an © <

Ge K
(Ke . — es
a = RP ee ZS vga “Me ie e 7
an al ¢ ue Si fh (C&G CC GE
Aly C4 CE ( {q-.: % \% G mi SS =e et Sey
= ee ee a ge f” / S:
—, oe eI (MEO EE
ra ; ef PF a G «4 Ger.
A f: N ~ _ Sos ES
A ; =! Se s
5 wre -_

Q Uf ¢ 3 Dy
o 6,
| Aeramenest7.
| Pibrary of the Museum
| OF

COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY,

AT HARVARD COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, MASS,

Founded by private subscription, in 1861.

|
|
|

Deposited by ALEX. AGASSIZ.

|
|
a MOEN

pe

—— =
<a

a

his

cy atte ae oun Weegee
Pei ee ae

QUARTERLY JOURNAL

OF

MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE:

EDITED BY

EDWIN LANKESTER, M.D, F.R.S., F.LS.,

AND

GEORGE BUSK, F.R.C.S.E., F.R.S., Sec. LS.

VOLUME IV.—New Szrtes.

GWith Allustrations on Wood and Stone.

LONDON:

JOHN CHURCHILL AND SONS, NEW BURLINGTON STREET
"864,

ay
r
} : ‘ - Mitt ei

SUASMAS

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

Nore on the Existence of a pair of SvB-cUTANEOUS
Oririces in the Heap of the Ext and Concer. By the
Rev. W. Hoveuton, F.L.S.

Havine been occupied at intervals during the last three
months in dissecting a number of eels (Anguilla acutirostris)
and a couple of Congers, I observed the invariable presence
of two sub-triangular openings in the fleshy portion of the
head, just at its juncture with the spinal column. My first
impression with regard to the use of these orifices was that
they were connected with the auditory organs, and that they
probably led to the vestibular cavity. Although so far, I
believe, as has hitherto been observed, the existence of
external auditory organs in the whole class of fishes is very
exceptional—the skates amongst the cartilaginous order,
and a few of the members belonging to the Gadide and
Clupeide amongst the osseous order alone possessing them—
still I thought it not improbable that the eel, which is
commonly supposed to hear well, and which is occasionally
an overland traveller, might prove another exception to the
general rule. I may observe that Mr. Cholmondeley
Pennell, in his recently published work, ‘The Angler
Naturalist’ (p. 397), asserts the presence of an “ear or
auditory aperture” amongst the various mucus pores about
the head, but from the most minute examination of a large
number of eels’ heads I can confidently affirm that no such
external auditory aperture exists. I have, therefore, no doubt
that Mr. Pennell must have mistaken two of the mucus
pores for ears.

Upon my inserting a bristle in each of these orifices, and
on clearing away the flesh from the head, I found that each
bristle traversed a closed-in duct or tube in the cranium, and

VOL. IV.— NEW SER. ‘ A

2 BECK, ON ILLUSIVE APPEARANCES.

came out just above the orbital bone (see Pl. I, fig. 1). On
making a vertical section of the skull, andexamining with
great care the vestibular sacs, I became convinced that the
tubular ducts had no connection with them nor with the
auditory nerve (fig. 4). Each of these tubes, which in the
common eel is just wide enough to admit a fine piece of silk-
gut, terminates in a membranous fold or hollow in the subcu-
taneous tissue just above the eye (fig. 5), and contains a certain
quantity of thin fluid or lymph, which, by the way, bears no
resemblance to mucus. Are these cavities reservoirs for the
supply of fluid to lubricate the surface, and may we conjecture
that the lymph is drawn up the tubular ducts by capillary
attraction? There is little reason to doubt that the cranial
ducts are connected with the so-called ‘mucus system”
which is very complicated in the eel tribe, but in what
manner they are so I have hitherto been unable to satisfy
myself, and leave the determination of the question to the
investigation of more experienced anatomists.

On the Ixttusive Appnarances produced by some TRaAns-
PARENT Oxssects. By Ricuarp Beck.

To view an object by passing light through it, or, as it is
commonly termed, to look at it as transparent, 1s a method
of examination not only peculiar to the microscope, but also
one to which the naked eye is quite unaccustomed. It fre-
quently conveys to the mind most imperfect ideas of an
object, and in very many instances it produces appearances
which even in shape bear no resemblance to the true
structure: of this fact, which is somewhat difficult of proof,
most conclusive evidence may be furnished by a careful
examination of the scales of Lepisma Saccharina.

This insect may be found in most houses, frequenting
damp warm cupboards, or as an associate in the dark of
black-beetles and cockroaches, and its scales have been long
known to microscopists.

The insect, which is very active, should be caught without
injury in a clean pill-box with a few pin-holes in the lid, and
a drop of chloroform over these holes will soon make the
inmate insensible, when it may be turned out upon a piece of
clean paper.

BECK, ON ILLUSIVE APPEARANCES. 3

The best way to remove the scales is to press one of the
ordinary 3 x 1 glass slides gently upon the part from which
the scales are required, and they readily adhere to the glass,
appearing to the naked eye like a smear of dust; under the
microscope they present a considerable variety, not only of
size and shape, but also in the character of their markings.

Upon the scales that are most abundant the more pro-
minent markings appear as a series of double lines, which run
parallel and at considerable intervals from end to end of the
scale, whilst other lines, generally much fainter, radiate from
the quill and take the same direction as the outline of the
scale when near the fixed or quill end; but there is in
addition an interrupted appearance at the sides of the scale
which is very different from the mere union or “ cross-
hatching ” of the two sets of lines (see figs. 1 and 2, the upper
portions).

Fie. I.

The scales themselves are formed of some truly transparent
substance, for water instantly and almost entirely obliterates
their markings, but they reappear unaltered as the moisture
leaves them; therefore the fact of their being visible at all
under any circumstances is due to the refraction of light by
superficial irregularities, and the following experiment
establishes this fact, whilst it determines at the same time
the structure of each side of the scale—a matter which it is
impossible to do from the appearance of the markings in their
unaltered state :—

4 BECK, ON ILLUSIVE APPEARANCES.

Having removed some scales from the imsect on a glass
slide as already described, cover them with a piece of thin
glass, which may be prevented from moving by a little paste
at each corner. Fig. III may then be taken as an exaggerated
section of the various parts.

A B is the glass slide with a supposed scale, C, closely
adherent to it, and D, the thin glass cover, secured to A B
by avery little paste at the corners, The object thus prepared
should then be placed under a high power, the + and No. 3
eye-piece, with the achromatic condenser illumination, an-
swering well.

If under these circumstances a very small drop of water

Fie, IIL
ee

(E) be placed at the edge of the thin glass, it will ran under
by capillary attraction, but when it reaches the scale (C), it
will run first between it and the glass slide A B, because the
attraction there will be greater, and consequently the
markings on that side of the scale which is in contact with
the glass slide will be obliterated, while those on the other
side will for some time at least remain unaltered ; when such
is the case the strongly marked vertical lines disappear, and
the radiating ones become continuous (see fig. I, the lower
left hand portion).

To try the same experiment with the other or mner
surface of the scales, it is only requisite to transfer them, by
pressing the first piece of glass by which they are taken from
the insect, upon another piece of glass, to which a few scales
will adhere, and then the same process as that already
described may be repeated with them, when the radiating
lines will disappear, and the vertical ones will become
continuous (see fig. II, left portion).

These results therefore show that the interrupted appear-
ance is produced by two sets of uninterrupted lmes on
different surfaces; the lines in each instance being caused
by corrugations or folds on the external surfaces of the ~
scales.

Whilst some may like to try this experiment for themselves,
others will be satisfied with the appearance which a few scales
are almost sure to present in every slide that is mounted.
Figs. I and II already referred to are parts of a camera lucida
drawing of a scale which happened to have the opposite

BECK, ON ILLUSIVE APPEARANCES. 5

surfaces obliterated in different parts ; this is seldom the case,
and generally it is only the outer surface of the scale that is

in such a condition.

Fig. 1V shows parts of a small
scale in a dry and natural state ;
at the upper part the interrupted
appearance is not much unlike that
seen at the sides of the larger
scales, but lower down, where lines
of equal strength cross nearly at
right angles;* the lines are en-
tirely lost in a series of dots, and
exactly the same appearance is
shown in fig. V, to be produced
by two scales at a part where
they overlie each other, although
each one separately shows only
parallel vertical lines.

Considerable disturbances pro-
duced by the passing of light
through transparent bo-
dies are very common in
microscopic objects, and
when such is the case

ire, PY:

great care is required in \ Y
the true interpretation
of structure.

In many cases I be-
lieve it may be almost
impossible to arrive at
the truth, yet some kind
of analysis, that which I
have alluded to being
only one of many, should
I think be employed

f o>
LPs
oeals8
f SaSogo
959 59,
j 5 90. G8
4 29509 D0
93 522.08
25022509)
0250985095
gegs0er
Fie. V
°
co oO
6%
Oooo \
O09
©0009 09
eo 0CS 900
iat P2%°, ©
90000
09009
90.0
ae)
°

before so many hasty and speculative theories are started
upon the structure of many microscopic objects.

* The faint lines in this figure merely show the direction and not the

character of the lines.

On the Importance of Rapuipes as NaturaL CHARACTERS
in Botany. By Grorce Guiuiver, Esq., F.R.S. .

Ir seems amazing that the importance of raphides in vege- ~
table economy, and their great value as natural characters in
systematic botany, should have received so little attention.
Probably the chief reasons for this neglect are, that these
beautiful crystals have been commonly regarded simply as
curiosities, rather accidental than essential, and that sphz-
raphides and other forms have been too often confounded
with raphides. Hence, indeed, has arisen such confusion
that we frequently hear them alluded to merely as micro-
scopic marvels and irregular products; and the character of
raphis-bearing, which I have assigned to such orders as Bal-
saminacez, Rubiacez, and Onagracez, regarded as worthless.
But if we restrict the term raphides, as proposed and defined
etymologically in one of my former papers (‘ Ann. Nat.
Hist.’ for Sep. 1863), taking care to distinguish raphides
from spheraphides, that objection will cease altogether, and
the value of raphides, as natural characters, become at once
evident. Among British plants, it will be immediately seen
what very different things the sphzraphides of Lythracez
and Haloragacee are from the raphides of the intervening
order, Onagraceze; and that, though Ovalis Acetosella is not
a raphidiferous plant, it abounds in spheraphides. Num-
berless examples of the same kind might be cited.

I have been led to these remarks by Dr. Lankester’s valu-
able paper in the last number of the ‘ Quarterly Journal of
Microscopical Science,’ and most cordially agree with the
following remarks in that paper:—“ The biography of our
indigenous plants has yet to be written, microscope im hand,
and it is not till the minute details of the cell-life of each
plant has been recorded that we shall be in a position to
arrive at the laws which govern the life of the vegetable king-
dom.”” Now, as structure and function lie at the root of the
best botanical classification, it is to be hoped that Dr. Lan-
kester’s hint will not be disregarded by the excellent editors
of the new edition of ‘English Botany,’ so that some of the
spare surface of the plates of that great national work may
be employed to render them not less equal to the present
state of science than they were to that science in the time of
Sir James Edward Smith. To this end, no doubt, careful
attention must be given to such characters as those afforded
by the raphides, and by the forms, contents, and intimate
structure of the pollen, hairs, and tissue-cells ; as well as by the

GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES. 7

anatomy of the fruit of Umbelliferee, and by outlines quite
as accurate, plain, and instructive as those engraved by
Andersson and other foreigners of the parts of fructification
in Cyperaceze and Gramineze.

But as to the value of raphides as natural characters, and
to their importance in the vegetable economy at all, doubts
such as those above cited will at present be entertained.
Schleiden asserts that “ the needle-formed crystals, in bundles
of from twenty to thirty in a single cell, are present in
almost all plants,” and that “inorganic crystals are rarely
met with in cells in a full state of vitality’ (‘ Principles of
Scientific Botany,’ translated by Dr. Lankester, pp. 6 and
91). And under the head of “‘ Raphides,” in the last edition
of the valuable ‘ Micrographic Dictionary’ (which I now
quote from memory), we are told that there are few of the
higher plants that do not contain them; that they are very
abundant in Monocotyledones generally, as well as in Cacta-
cez, Euphorbiacez, Urticacer, &c., among Dicotyledones ;
and that they occur in vast quantities in the leaves of Ara-
ceze, Musacez, Liliacez, Iridacee, and Polygonacez, and
in the sepals of Orchidaceze and Geraniacee. The meaning
of the illustrious German is plain ; and that sphzeraphides and
other kinds of crystals are all called raphides in the ‘ Micro-
graphic Dictionary’ is equally certain, as any one may see
by comparing the raphides of Orchis and Arum with the
sphzeraphides of Parietaria and Geranium.

Let us therefore note a few of the leading facts which I
have at present obtained, premising that the term raphides
will be restricted throughout this paper to the needle forms
generally occurring in bundles, so easily broken up that the
individual crystals are very apt, under gentle friction, to
separate from each other and from the tissue in which they
are produced. We shall thus exclude even other acicular
but less slender crystals occurring either singly or two,
three, or four together, sometimes as if partly fused into each
other, and by no means easily separable. either from one
another or from the plant-tissue in which they exist; and,
of course, the curious starch-sticks of the latex of Euphorbi-
acer (‘ Ann. Nat. Hist.’ for March, 1862, p. 209) will be
totally rejected from the order of saline crystals.

Adopting this course, we shall soon perceive that the for-
mation of raphides must be an important and special function
in the economy of certain plants, and that the result of this
function may afford valuable natural characters, sometimes
more universally available than any other single character
ever before adopted or proposed.

8 GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES.

To show this, it will be sufficient to confine our attention,
on the present occasion, to the leaves, and parts which are
modifications of leaves, where we shall surely find raphides
abundantly in certain plants, and at all seasons and in every
variety of soil; while in other plants raphides ‘are as surely
not so produced. Nay, even of two species belonging to
different but closely allied orders, and growing close together
in the very same spot of earth, the one will as constantly
abound in raphides as the other will be destitute of them.
But the last species may abound in spheraphides instead ;
and these are so widely different from raphides that it would
be a needless waste of time to repeat their diagnostics,
which may be realised in a few minutes by any one who will
compare them in such plants as Epilobium and Myriophyllum.
Further, several species of one order, as Lilacee, may thus
regularly differ in the presence or absence of raphides, of
which Endymion and Allium afford curious examples. |

Proceeding with our inquiry, it will be found that some
raphidiferous orders may stand in the very centre of other
orders not producing raphides. Thus, for example, as num-
bered and expounded, from other characters, in Professor
Balfour’s admirable ‘ Manual of Botany : .

100. Loranthacez. 103. Valerianaceze.
101. Caprifoliaceze. nek yen 104. Dipsacacez.

Now, Rubiacez is not more distinguished here in print than
in the type of nature as a raphis-bearing order, so far as my
examination of the British plants has yet extended. In other
words, I have never found a species of the central order
without a plentiful crop of raphides, while search was vainly
made for any traces of such crop in several species of the
four surrounding orders.

Further, with the instructive company of Professor Babing-
ton’s ‘Manual of British Botany,’ we may view an order
conversely ; that is to say, regularly devoid of raphides, and
yet standing between two orders as regularly raphidiferous :

80. Dioscorracex. 81. Hydrocharidacee. 82. OrcHipAcEgz.

And here we shall find Hydrocharidacee differing as remark-
ably in the want of those raphides in the possession of which,
on the contrary, its next neighbours are so rich.

Again, as for Monocotyledones, which are said in our books
to abound so much in raphides, I have often examined all
the grasses of a field, of which no less than eleven species
were determined, besides four species of Carex, and never

GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES. 9

found raphides in any one of them. Nor have my exami-
nations of Alisma and Potamogeton been more successful ;
and yet raphides are plentiful im all the orders standing in
Professor Babington’s book between those orders of which
Alisma and Potamogeton are the types.

But, disregarding botanical arrangements, if we try at
random such plants as may be met with in a short walk, we
shall find that various species near in habit, however remote
in alliance, and growing in the same place, with their leaves
or roots more or less in contact, differ im nothing more con-
stantly than in the presence or absenceof raphides. ‘Thus,
we shall scarcely find raphides in trees or shrubs, though
these plants, like numberless other Phanerogamia, abound
either .in spheraphides or minute erystals, of which good
examples may be seen in the petioles, leaves, or bark of
Salix, Populus, Ulmus, Tilia, Lonicera, Vinca, &c.; and in
the first pool may be found Lemna, Callitriche, Stratiotes, and
Hottonia, of which Lemna only is a raphis-bearing plant. On
the same hedge-bank we find various species of Onagraceee and
Rubiacez, intermixed with as many species of Umbellifere,
Leguminose, Labiatze, and Filices, and all the plants of the two
former orders as certainly affording raphides as all the plants
of the four latter orders will be devoid of raphides. More-
over, of two plants, such as Galium palustre and Valeriana
sambucifolia, growing together in the same damp place, the
first will as regularly contain raphides as the second will be
destitute of them. A collection of a very large number of
similar examples has accumulated in my note-book, from
which those now given are selected because they are among
several of which the accuracy of the facts has been verified
at various seasons and years and in diverse soils, and which
facts first convinced me of the crudeness of the existing know-
ledge of the subject.

As to the real value of such facts, and the exceptions which
may be found to weaken their significance, doubtless very
extensive and elaborate researches are yet required. We may
expect, especially as regards exotic botany, that they will be
more or less modified, corrected, extended, and confirmed ;
for we know that Nature, as if in abhorrence of our defini-
tions of organic productions, is prone to furnish exceptions
to the best and most comprehensive botanical and zoological
characters.

But surely the sum of the observations which we have
already adduced is sufficient to prove that she has appomted
certain plants as laboratories of a special compound in the
peculiar form of raphides, while to other plants that function

10 GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES.

is not assigned, though these may abound in different crystals,
some of which may occur also with raphides in truly raphi-
diferous plants. By chemists the raphides are said to be
phosphate of lime, and no physiologist will doubt the import-
ance of this salt in the vegetable and animal economy. ‘Thus
we can easily understand the utility, and the cause of that
utility, even of such abject and despised things as the com-
mon Duckweed (‘ Ann. Nat. Hist.’ for May, 1861, and Janu-
ary, 1863). Besides the instances now adduced with regard
to raphis-bearing plants, we have elsewhere (‘ Ann. Nat.
Hist.’ for November, 1863, fig. 1) proved that this function
is a central one, second only in rank to the preservation of
the species, and always, in some plants, at work from the
ovule to the seed-leaves, thence, through the regular leaves and
their modifications, to the parts of fructification ; in the root
also, as in Dioscoreacez and Smilacee; this function indeed
never ceasing during the vigorous life of the plant from the
cradle to the grave; and, in short, being an essential and
significant result of that life. So far, then, from considering
raphides as minor or accidental formations, we must con-
clude that they are the expression of a necessary, fundamen-
tal, and constant phenomenon in the very nature of the plant-
life in such cases as we have already noticed. And so really
practical may this truth be, that, for gardening purposes, I
have easily picked out, simply by the raphides, pots of seed-
ling Onagracez which had got accidentally and inconveniently
mixed with pots of other seedlings of the same age, and at
that period of growth when no botanical character before in
use would have been so readily sufficient for the diagnosis.

In conclusion, it may be remarked that any truly accurate
and comprehensive plant-history must include such import-
ant products as the raphides; and whenever they may be
available botanical characters, as we have shown that they
often really are, where could any one exponent be found more
constantly present and surely expressive of the nature and
economy of the plant? And so we may hope that no history
or arrangement, pretending to be a natural one, either of the
whole or part of the vegetable kingdom, will henceforth ap-
pear without a proper indication of those examples in which a
very essential, significant, intrinsic, and characteristic function
of the plant-life is the production of raphides.

ll

On the Uttimate Distrisution and Fonetion of very FINE
NERVE-FIBRES.

We desire to call the attention of our readers to some
important observations and conclusions by Dr. Beale, with
reference to the ultimate distribution of nerve-fibres in various
tissues recently arrived at from direct observation. Most
physiologists have endeavoured to ascertain the functions of
nerve-fibres, and the ultimate destination of certain branches,
by experiments upon living animals; but Dr. Beale has for
many years past devoted himself to the study of this subject
in a very different manner. He has sought to establish many
general propositions by direct anatomical observation, and has
devised new methods for preparing the tissues, and for
examining the thinnest possible sections under very high
powers varying from 1800 to 3000 diameters.

Perhaps one of the most important and interesting of his
conclusions is the demonstrationof the existeuceof nerve-fibres,
which probably bear to the vaso-motor nerves distributed to
the coats of the small arteries the same relation that afferent or
excitor fibres bear to efferent or motor-spinal nerves. The
paper inwhichthis inference is arrived at is published in the last
number of the ‘ Archives of Medicine’ (“ Of very fine Nerve-
fibres ramifying in certain Fibrous Tissues,” &c. By Lionel
S. Beale.)

The author states that researches upon which he has been
long engaged have convinced him that the ultimate nerve-
fibres in all tissues are much finer and more abundantly dis-
- tributed than is generally supposed, and that the active ter-
minal branches of many nerves, where they ramify abundantly
in tissues, have been included by many authors in the so-
called connective tissue. The terminal branches of all nerve-
fibres are so very fine as not to be visible by magnifying
powers in ordinary use—many in the frog being less than the
1-100,000th of an inch in diameter. In man and mammalia
they are wider than this, but appear as faint granular and
too often scarcely visible bands. In the frog, although so fine,
they are much more distinct, and being firmer, are much
more easily studied than in mammalia.

All peripheral nerve-fibres are connected with nuclei (ger-
minal matter), but these nuclei are separated by much greater
distances in the nerves distributed to some tissues than
others. The nuclei are for the most part oval, but in some
cases they are triangular. These bodies, which exist in great

12 DR. BEALE, ON NERVE-FIBRES.

number in many sensitive surfaces, as, for example, just
beneath the epithelium of the mucous membrane of the
fauces, have been and are still considered by many authori-
ties to be connective tissue-corpuscles. Not a few observers
in this country as well as on the continent, following Vir-
chow and his school, consider that they communicate with
each other by tubes, and thus form a new canalicular system
for conveying nutrient juices.*

The so-called nuclei are never terminal, but a fibre always
passes from each nucleus in two or three different directions.
Not only nuclei, but nerve-fibres have by many observers been
included under the head of connective tissue. Nor, indeed,
can these fine terminal nerve-fibres be demonstrated in fibrous
tissues in which they exist in great number by the ordinary pro-
cesses employed in demonstration. They can only be seen in
exceedingly thin sections, and with the use of the highest
powers. Not only are nerve-fibres present in certain forms
of connective tissue, but there are many fibrous tissues des-
titute of vessels to which nerves are distributed. In the cor-
nea, in the fibrous tissue about the pericardium, the pericardium
itself, and the bundles of fibrous tissue in connection with
the vessels and various organs in the abdominal cavity of the
frog, nerve-fibres are very numerous.

Dr. Beale has succeeded in demonstrating nerve-fibres in
connection with the vessels in so many tissues of the frog, and
of certain mammalia, that he is strongly inclined to the
opinion that in vertebrate animals nerve fibres exist wher-
ever vessels are present. These remarks apply not only to
the smallest arteries and veins, but also to the capillaries.+
Since the capillaries are devoid of muscular fibre-cells, and
do not possess contractile power, it is probable that these
fine nerve-fibres associated with the capillary vessels are
afferent fibres.

In the papille of the frog’s tongue, for example, besides
the bundle of sensitive nerve-fibres passing up the central
part of the papillze, there are very fine nerve fibres distributed
to the vessels, and some fine fibres in the connective tissue
external to the vessels. Similar fibres exist in the small
papilla, to which neither vessels nor dark-bordered nerve-
fibres are distributed. The nuclei connected with these
fibres are about the 1-300th of an inch or more apart. Now
these fibres are not ordinary fibres of connective tissue, for
the author traced them into undoubted nerve-fibres. More-

* See a paper on the “ Distribution of the Nerve-fibres to the Mucous
Membrane of the Human Epiglottis.” ‘Archives,’ vol. ili, p. 249,
+ See figs. 5 and 9, in plate xxiii, ‘ Phil. Trans.,’ 1860.

DR. BEALE, ON NERVE-FIBRES. 13

over the fibres and nuclei are much more abundant in con-
nection with some capillaries than others. They are very
numerous upon the smallest vessels of the ciliary processes of
the eye (ox), as well as upon those which are provided with
muscular fibre-cells, and many are to be found in the con-
nective tissue upon the free border of the finest vessels. He
considers that these branches are in part afferent or excitor
and partly efferent or motor nerves of the vessels.

The fact of the presence of undoubted nerve-fibres in tissues
destitute of vessels, and deriving their nutriment from the
plasma permeating vessels situated perhaps at some distance,
is another strong argument in favour of the existence of
afferent nerves, bearing to the vaso-motor branches the same
relation as the excitor fibres bear to the spinal motor nerves.
Such fine nerve-fibres are distributed to the cornea of all
animals, and very fine fibres ramify upon different planes in
the substance of the proper corneal tissue. From their dis-
tribution we are justified in assuming that. these fibres are
not ordinary sensitive fibres, but are nevertheless concerned
in transmitting impressions of some sort from periphery ,
towards nervous centres, while in certain morbid states they
are probably instrumental in transmittiug impressions which
produce the sensation of pain. Ordinarily, these afferent and
efferent fibres preside over the nutritive process, and it is easy
to conceive how any alteration in the amount of nutrition
passing to the tissue must influence, through the nuclei and
afferent fibres, the ganglia from which the vaso-motor branches
take their rise. Thus the calibre of the minute arteries may
be altered by the slightest modification in the supply of pabu-
lum to the tissues outside capillary vessels dependent upon
any mechanical or chemical alteration in the tissue whereby
the activity of the nutritive changes becomes altered. Nor-
mally, the balance between the quantity of pabulum taken
up by the tissue and that escaping from the capillaries would
be maintained through these afferent and efferent fibres, and
it is easy to understand how any derangement of afferent
fibres, nerve-centre, or efferent branches would disturb the
nutritive process.

Dr. Beale thinks that the rapidity of growth of tissues is
determined solely by the supply of pabulum, and this supply
is regulated and equalised by a special system of nerves which
is, however, connected with the cerebro-spinal system, and
may influence it, or be influenced by it. He has been led to
the conclusion that nerves invariably form complete circuits,
and that there are afferent or excitor nerves and efferent
or motor nerves presiding over the nutritive processes, which
may act independently of the cerebro-spinal nerves or centres.

14 DR. BEALE, ON NERVE-FIBRES.

It might be asked, if the author holds that there is a com-
plete circuit in the case of the afferent and another in that of
the efferent fibres distributed respectively to the tissues and
small arteries, or if the afferent and efferent fibres form
part of the same circuit, in which case an impression might
be transmitted to, and a motor impulse start from, the same
ganglion-cell; but he postpones the consideration of this part
of the question.

The fine nucleated fibres distributed in the neighbourhood
of capillary vessels, and to tissues which do not receive a vas-
cular supply at all, form, in the tissues of the frog generally,
fine trunks consisting of several very fine fibres, and these
unite to form larger trunks, which, as a general rule, are
accompanied by one or more dark-bordered fibres, but in the
bladder, in the heart, and also in the mesentery, large trunks
exist which are composed entirely of these very fine fibres,
and at certain points plexuses are formed. In the cornea the
individual fibres are not so distinct, nor are the fibres so
decidedly separated from each other as in the drawing accom-
panying the author’s paper. Many seem to be in course of
splitting, an appearance more like that seen in the sympa-
thetic branches of birds and mammalia, where the fibres
in a trunk appear to be connected together forming
bands.*

It is quite certain, therefore, that the fine fibres above
described are independent of the dark-bordered fibres. But, it
will be asked, are all the fine fibres in the trunks—for example,
in those represented in the figure—afferent fibres? Ina trunk
passing from the cornea, doubtless, all are of this nature, but
Dr. Bealehas seen many such fibres passing amongstthemuscu-
lar fibre-cells of the bladder, and also to the contractile coats
of the small arteries, so that at least in this case it is probable
that some of the fibres entering into the formation of the
plexus figured, are afferent and others efferent. There are no
characters by which one class of fibres can be distinguished
from the other. Amongst the nerves forming the large bundle
which supplies a limb, some bundles of fine fibres, which pro-
bably belong to the same class, are to be found, but the
author has never seen large bundles of very fine fibres like
those in the bladder and mesentery, in the voluntary muscles.
Such bundles, however, do exist in connection with the heart.

The bundles of fine fibres at their peripheral distribution
form plexuses and networks. The author has never seen any
termination in any case. The fine nerve-fibres distributed to

* The arrangement of the nerve-fibres in the cornea of various animals is
fully described in an elaborate paper by Dr. Ciaccio, of Naples, in No. XI
of this Journal.

DR. BEALE, ON NERVE-FIBRES. 15

small arteries and veins also form networks, and very fine
fibres can be traced ramifying amongst the muscular fibre-
cells on different planes. Kdlliker suggests that ‘such fibres
ramifying on the outer part of small arteries and veins dis-
tributed to voluntary muscle, and on fine vessels on the arterial
side of capillaries destitute of a muscular coat, are of the sen-
tient kind. The latter fibres are probably afferent or sentient,
but Kolliker’s remarks on this question are very undecided,
and he does not profess to have studied the subject carefully.
It is very hard to conceive what purpose could be served by
the free distribution of sentient fibres upon and in the sub-
stance of the muscular coat of an artery. Some of the fibres
running with vessels distributed to voluntary muscles are cer-
tainly motor branches, for, after running parallel with vessels
for some distance, they diverge and are distributed to the
muscular fibres. Kolliker considers certain nerves for the
most part on the surface of the muscle as sentient fibres, but
he adduces no facts which show that this view is correct.*

It is important to state definitely that the bundles of very
fine fibres, distributed to the frog’s bladder and in other tis-
sues, are not visible in specimens prepared in the ordinary
manner and examined in water or weak glycerine. In the
bladder from which the specimen figured in No. xiii of the
‘ Archives,’ plate I, was taken, there was no appearance
whatever of these very fine fibres when the specimen was first
prepared, but after the prolonged action of dilute acetic acid,
a great number of bundles, many of which were as much as
sosoth of an inch in diameter, and very many finer compound
fibres, made their appearance. The vast majority of these bun-
dles of fine fibres were not only destitute of true dark-
bordered fibres, but of any one fibre more than the =5,4,;th of
an inch in diameter.

It is scarcely probable that any observer will doubt
that the fibres figured are true nerve-fibres. Their mode of
arrangement, the manner in which the trunks branch and
ramify amongst the muscular fibre-cells, the character of the
nuclei connected with the fibres, and the change produced in
them by the action of acetic acid, show them to be nerve-fibres.
The author has already proved that very fiue fibres invariably
form the continuation of dark-bordered fibres, and that fibres,
as fine as some of the finest of these, ramify in the same
sheath with the dark-bordered fibre, even in the case of the
dark-bordered fibres distributed to voluntary muscle (‘ Phil.
Trans.’ 1862).

But that thesevery finefibres in the bladder, which the author

* “Croonian Lecture,” ‘ Proceedings of the Royal Society,’ 1862.

16 DR. BEALE, ON NERVE+FIBRES,

believes have now been demonstrated for the first time in his
specimens, are true nerve-fibres, is placed beyond all question
by the fact of their being continuous with ganglion-cells. He
has seen several ganglion-cells from which such fine fibres alone
(every one being less than the =,,1,,th of an inch) proceed.
From different parts of one ganglion-cell sometimes six or seven
or more very fine fibres may be traced, while not a single dark-
bordered fibre comes near to the cell or bundle of fibres under
consideration.

Dr. Beale fears that the accuracy of these observations will
be questioned by many fellow-workers in Germany, and more
especially by those of the Dorpat school, and the difficulty of
preparing the specimens is so great, that his conclusions are
scarcely likely to be confirmed for some time to come. The
appearances are, however, so distinct that he has been able to
demonstrate the most important points to the students of his
physiological class. As the specimens will keep for a consider-
able length of time, they can be examined by any one desirous
of seeing them.

It would seem then that in the frog these fine fibres are
distributed to capillary vessels, to fibrous tissues devoid of
capillaries, to the tongue and palate, to the unstriped mus-
cle of the bladder, pharynx, gullet, stomach, and intestines,
to the unstriped muscle distributed to the coats of arteries,
and to the muscular fibres of the heart, and probably they
are to be made out in many other tissues than those above
named.

The author is unable to enter fully into the question of the
distribution of the different classes of nerve-fibres to the
various tissues of the frog’s bladder, nor can he discuss satis-
factorily their several offices; but on these important ques-
tions he offers the following remarks :—

With reference to the kind of nerve-fibres, it is certain
that—

1. Dark-bordered fibres are distributed to the bladder of
the frog, and that the very fine terminal fibres, resulting from
the subdivision of these, are freely distributed with the ulti-
mate branches of other nerve-fibres.

2. That there are fine fibres running in the same sheath with
the dark-bordered nerve-fibres, as he has described in the case
of dark-bordered fibres distributed exclusively to voluntary
muscle. See‘ Archives,’ vol. iti, and ‘ Phil. Trans.,’ 1862
(just published).

3. That there are verymany bundles of very fine fibres which
sometimes run with dark-bordered fibres, and sometimes also
form special trunks destitute of dark-bordered fibres.

DR. BEALE, ON NERVE-FIBRES. 17

4. That many of these very fine fibres are directly con-
nected with ganglion-cells upon the outer surface of the
bladder.

5. It is certain that many ganglion-cells have no dark-
bordered fibres whatever in connection with them; but the
author has demonstrated that some ganglion-cells are con-
nected with dark-bordered fibres.

In considering the function of this most elaborate and
beautiful nervous arrangement, it must be borne in mind—

1. That the muscular fibre-cells and vessels of the blad-
der are freely supplied with nerves.

2. That nerves ramify upon the surface of the mucous
membrane.

3. That the bladder contracts when the nerve-fibres, dis-
tributed to the skin of the animal, are irritated, and its
contraction seems also to be under the influence of the will
of the animal.

The author thinks it probable that the nerves, distributed
to the muscular fibre-cells of the bladder, are branches of
the same trunks as those distributed to the vessels, and
are connected with the ganglion-cells. As already stated,
the numerous nerve-fibres in the cornea and other fibrous
tissues are purely afferent, and through the centre into
which they are implanted, they influence the motor fibres
distributed to the nearest vessels. In the bladder there
are afferent fibres corresponding to those in the cornea, and
efferent or motor fibres distributed to the vessels, and also
to the muscular fibre-cells.

Whether the dark-bordered fibres are purely sensitive, or
whether some spinal motor fibres thus pass directly to the
bladder, the author is unable to say. It is probable that
the fine fibres running with the dark-bordered fibres of the
bladder correspond to those in the same sheath with purely
motor or sensitive dark-bordered fibres. It is, however, not
possible to discuss this question advantageously until many
points in connection with the general distribution and func-
tion of the different classes of nerve-fibres are cleared up.

The most important of the many conclusions arrived at
from this investigation is the demonstration of numerous
fine nerve-fibres around capillary vessels, and the inference
that there are afferent fibres corresponding to and in-
fluencing the efferent or vaso-motor branches distributed to
the small arteries. The inference that all small arteries and
the fibres of unstriped as well as striped muscular fibres are
freely supplied with nerve-fibres, is also most important.

VOL. IV.—NEW SER. B

18

On some ParasiticaL Insects from CuINa.
By Henry Gie.io.i.

Some time since, Mr. Swinhoe, who has done so much
towards advancing our knowledge of Chinese ornithology,
presented me with several parasitical insects, which he had
met with during his zoological investigations in China.
Finding them interesting and mostly new, I thought that a
description of them might be useful.

They are seven in all; four belonging to the Anoplura, and
the three others to the Diptera. I shall commence with the
former; first giving my best thanks to Mr. H. Denny, of Leeds,
who has most kindly assisted me in identifying the species.

It is to that persevering Italian naturalist, Francesco
Redi, that the history of epizoic parasites owes its beginning,
towards the latter part of the seventeenth century. Since
then, De Geer, Fabricius, Latreille, Leach, and Burmeister,
have contributed not a little to that part of entomology
which the recent labours of Léon Dufour, Denny,* and
Gervais,t+ have so much advanced. .

De Geer first divided them into—Pediculi (with a suctorial
mouth, and inhabiting chiefly mammals), and Ricini (with a
mandibulated mouth, and living mostly on birds). Dr. Leach
included both divisions under the term Anoplura.

Those I shall describe belong to the Ricini. These creatures
abound on birds, many species of which possess their peculiar
louse, and some even two or three species, found only on
them; they hide amongst the feathers, on the extremities of
which they appear when the bird dies.

Some authors opine that the down next to the skin
constitutes their nourishment, while others, with more reason,
think that they live on the blood of their host.

The Anoplura here described all belong to the old genus
Philopterus of Nitzsch, which has by subsequent authors been
divided into several genera.

Genus Lipzurvs, Nitzsch.

‘Body more or less narrow and elongated. Head of moderate
size, rather narrow; cheeks rounded, no trabeculae.

* H. Denny, ‘Monogr. Anoplurorum Britannie.’

{ Walckenaer et Gervais, ‘Hist. Nat. des Insectes Aptéres,’ vol. iii, pp.
307—361, Paris, 1844.

t ‘ Thierinsekten,’ p. 34.

GIGLIOLI, ON PARASITICAL INSECTS FROM CHINA, 19

Antenne greatly modified and cheliform in the male,
haying the first jomt much longer and thicker than the
rest; in the female they are straight and simple. Last
segment of the abdomen notched behind in the male, trun-
cated and notched, or wholly cleft.

The species of this genus have been observed on diurnal
Raptores, Galline, Gralle, Natatores, and Cursores; they
are of large size.

Lipeurus Diomedee, Dufour. (Pl. 18, figs. 1, 2.)

Pediculus Diomedee, Fabricius.*

This large and interesting species has been known to
naturalists a long time as inhabiting the common albatross
(Diomedea exulans). After Fabricius, Dufour described it+
at length, together with two other lice peculiar to the same
bird. The most remarkable fact relating to my specimens
is, that they come from the Diomedea brachyura, which inhabits
only the Pacific north of the line, while the D. exulans
is only found south of the equator. Thus it is very strange
that two of the parasites inhabiting these birds should be
identical, for the following species is also found in both.

The L. Diomedee is -°,ths of an inch in length; its form is
elongated, and it is of a blackish-chestnut colour. The body is
nearly glabrous; only a few hairs are scattered about the fore
part and sides of the head, and on the sides of the abdomen.

The head is rather narrow, elongated, and quadrilateral ;
in the male deeply notched behind; in the female it has a
more triangular shape, and is less notched behind. Dufour
describes the head of the female as white, margined with
chestnut-brown. In my specimens the white is reduced to
a median line, rather larger than that on the head of the
male.

Antenne in the female (fig. 1) shorter than the head,
nearly straight, and composed of five cylindroid joints.
Those of the male (fig. 2), in form and insertion, resemble
more mandibules or mazilli-pedes than antenne. Redi
first drew attention to this remarkable fact in his Pulexr
pavonis.t

In the male ZL. Diomedee the antennz consist, as in the
female, of five joints, and are about -),th of an inch in length.

* Joh. Christ. Fabricii, ‘ Entomologia Systematica,’ tom. iv, p. 421,
Hafmie, 1794. He describes it thus :—*‘‘ Capite obtuso albus, abdominis
lateribus nigris.”

+ L. Dufour, “ Description et Iconographie de trois espéces du genre
Philopterus, parasites de Albatros; ” ‘Ann. Soc. Ent. de France,’ vol. iv
p. 669, figs. 1 and 2, 1834.

i F. Redi, ‘Exp. circa Gen, Ins.,’ tab, 14.

20 GIGLIOLI, ON PARASITICAL INSECTS FROM CHINA.

The first joint is very thick and rounded, the convexity
being outwards; on the basal portion of its inner side is
a spine-like process; its proximal half is white, the rest
chestnut-brown. The second and third joimts are much
smaller, both bent, and forming an elbow with the first. A
little behind the extremity of the third joint, on its outer
side, are placed the two terminal pieces, which are the same
as in the female, showing how the normal type is not alto-
gether done away with. This last part performs the tactile
functions which belong to the antenna, while the rest is used
as a prehensile arm, and embraces the female during copu-
lation.

The eyes are prominent, lateral, and hemispherical, of
moderate size. The mandibules are oblong, and bifid at
their extremity, situated behind a large, rounded space,
which is a suctorial apparatus.

The thorax consists of two distinct segments, the pro-
thorax and the metathorax; it is longer than the head,
and gradually widens from above downwards; its sides are
notched by a row of small tubercles. The metathorax is
about three times as long as the prothorax, which sup-
ports the anterior pair of legs. Dufour states that the
inferior part of the metathorax is divided into three longi-
tudinal portions in the males. These were not very distinct
in the specimens I examined ; but the mesial dorsal groove,
and the tuft of long, stiff, reddish hairs, directed back-
wards on the anterior side of each of its posterior angles,
were very distinct; each tuft consists of seven long sete;
they are common to both sexes.

The abdomen is longer than the head and thorax toge-
ther; it is composed of nine segments, the last one being
small and inconspicuous; in the male it forms a single
truncated process, divided by a cleft, but not bifid; im the
female it is deeply cleft, forming two processes, each pro-
vided with two long setze, which had been broken off in my
specimens. The inferior margin of each abdominal segment is
bordered by a narrow white line.

The anterior pair of legs are very short, thick, and strong,
being evidently scansorial ; the middle and posterior pairs are
much longer, especially the last; the cove are of moderate
size ; the femora and tibie long and strong; the ¢arsi rudi-
mentary, and terminated by two curved claws of equal size,
and parallel. On the inner side of the distal extremity of
the tiie in the anterior pair of legs is a pointed spine.
This species is found on the Diomedea exulans and on the
D. brachyura, and probably on the other species of Diomedea.

GIGLIOLI, ON PARASITICAL INSECTS FROM CHINA, 21

Genus DocorHororpes, Denny, MSS.

This genus has been proposed by Mr. Denny, and will be
published in his forthcoming work on ‘ Exotic Anoplura.’

The species which form it present the same general cha-
racters as the genus Docophorus, but they have the head
rather smaller in proportion, the thorax larger, and the an-
tenne in the males are modified, though not so much as in
the preceding genus.

Docophoroides brevis. (Pl. 18, figs. 8, 4.)

Docophoroides taurus, Denny.
Philopterus brevis, Dufour.

This smaller species also infests D. exulans, from which

Dufour described it.* J have it from D. brachyura.
_ Body short, broad, and ovate; of a uniform brown-chestnut
colour. Length ~8,ths of an inch. Head large, sub-tri-
angular, broader in the male at the base; occipital border
sinuous, with the posterior angles detached and rounded, pro-
vided with a few diverging hairs. The anterior part of the
head terminates in a truncated. snout, with a chaperon-like,
circumscribed space of a lighter colour, separated from the
rest of the integument by a whitish line. On each side of the
head in both sexes, above the insertion of the antenne, is a
pointed process directed backwards.

Antenne simple, and nearly straight in the female; com-
posed of five cylindro-conoid joints. Those of the male are
sub-cheliform ; the modification, however, is not carried so
far as in the L. Diomedee. The first point is cylindrical,
about half as long as the second; the third is bent, and ob-
liquely truncated distally; the two last joints, having the
normal form, are inserted in the midst of this truncation.

Eyes hemispherical, of moderate size.

Thorax about as long as the head, marked by a mesial
longitudinal groove ; it diminishes from down upwards. The
prothoraz is distinct from the metathorax, which has a small
tuft of setz on the interior of its posterior angles.

The abdomen is broader than the head, very broad in the
female, and about as long as the head and thorax together ;
in the male it is narrower and longer. It is composed of
eight segments, and in the female is cleft at its extremity; in
the male the abdomen, besides the eight segments, has an
additional rounded piece, covered with large setz; above it,
on the median line, is the reproductory apparatus, with a

* Loe. cit., p. 674, fig. 3.

22 GIGLIOLI, ON PARASITICAL INSECTS FROM CHINA.

copulating organ (fig. 5), which has a dilated extremity of
the shape of an arrow-head, with a duct running through its
middle.

The legs are thick and short, the femora very thick and
rounded ; the first pair are shorter than the other two, and
have two spines at the distal extremity of their ¢ibie ; on the
under margins of the ¢ibie of the intermediate and posterior
pair of legs are seven or eight tufts of sete, bent backwards.

Genus Docornorvs, Nitzsch,* Denny.

Body broad. Head very large, temples rounded; two movable
trabecule in front of the antennz, which are alike in both sexes.
The last segment of the abdomen is entire and rounded in the
male They live on all birds except Galline and Columbe.

Docophorus mandarinus, Giglioli, sp. nov. (Pl. 13, fig. 9).—
This small and curious species inhabits the Chinese blackbird,
Merula mandarina. Its length is about ;,th of an inch;
its body has the shape of a flask, the head being the
stopper; it is of a light-brown colour.

The head is enormous, triangular, produced anteriorly into
a broad truncated snout, with a large space divided off by a
narrow white line. Trabecule large and rather obtuse.

Antenne straight, composed of five cylindroid joints, the
basal one being the largest. Posterior angles of the head
large and rounded, with a few divergent hairs on the edge;
occipital line sinuous. Mandibules thick and bifid.

Thorax about half as long as the head; it widens gradually
downwards, but is always narrower than the head. The
prothoraz is very narrow, the metathorax is wider, but both
are very short, and, were it not for the legs, would be con-
founded with the abdominal segments; the metathorax, as
these, has a transverse line of long setz on its inferior
margin.

The abdomen is divided into eight segments, the last being
cleft in the female. I possess no male.

Legs short and thick, especially the first pair, which are-

evidently scansorial; the femora are broad and convex
externally; the ¢idie are short and thick, with spines at their
distal extremities; the tarsi are rudimentary, and terminate
in two claws.

Genus Nirmvs, Nitzsch.t

Body narrow. Head of moderate size; temples more or less
* © Thierinsekten,’ p. 31.
t ‘Anop. Brit.,’ p..63.
t ¢ Thierinsekten,’ p. 33,

GIGLIOLI, ON PARASITICAL INSECTS FROM CHINA. 23

rounded; trabecule obsolete or fixed. Antenne equal in
both sexes, or rarely thicker in the males.

They are found in considerable numbers on all birds.

Nirmus mandarinus, Giglioli, sp. nov. (Pl. 13, figs. 7 and 8).
—Body long and narrow; its total length is rather more than
th of an inch. This species inhabits also the Merula
mandarina ; another, the N. merulensis, infests the European
blackbird. This Nirmus is of a whitish colour, edged all
round with brown.

Head decidedly triangular, rather large; in front, a small
space is divided from the rest by a white line; the occipital
line is nearly straight. Antenne simple, composed of five
cylindroid joints; trabecule small and inconspicuous; mandi-
bules rather slender.

Thorax shorter than the head, and much narrower; dis-
tinetly divided into a prothorax and metathorax.

The abdomen is very large; it is at first narrow, then
- enlarges, and is truncated and broad distally ; it consists of
eight segments, the last being very slightly cleft; a few hairs
are scattered on it.

Legs rather long and thick, even the anterior pair; the
terminal claws are also long and much curved.

The three remaining insects I shall describe are Diptera,
and belong to the Pupipare, insects which live by sucking
the blood of mammals and birds, on which they are found, by
means of an apparatus more conformable to that of certain
Acarina than to the proboscis of other Diptera.

Two of my species belong to the family of the Coriacee or
Hippoboscide, one being an Ornithomyia, the other a Stredla.
Before describing them I must give my best thanks to Pro-
fessor Westwood, of Oxford, for the kind aid he has given me.

Genus OrnitHomytA, Latreille.

Eyes distinct; ocelli usually three in the vertex; wings
incumbent, full sized ; nerves distinct, extending to the apex ;
antennee ciliated ; tarsi with tridentate claws. They inhabit
only birds.

Ornithomyia Chinensis, Giglioli, sp. nov. (Pl. Is, fig. 10.)—
This is as yet the only species received from China. Mr,
Swinhoe found it on the Turdus obscurus. It is, when living,
ofadark-green colour. The total length of its body is ={,ths
of an inch.

The head is rounded, the occipital line being quite straight.
The antenne are short, sub-ovate, and coyered with thickish

24 GIGLIOLI, ON PARASITICAL INSECTS FROM CHINA.

hairs. Ocelli not very distinct; eyes large, occupying the
whole of the sides of the head; facets pretty equal in size.
The buccal apparatus is distinct; the clypeus of the fore part
of the head very conspicuous.

Thorax quite round, with a few hairs scattered over it.

Abdomen also globular, thickly covered with short hairs;
in one of my specimens it terminates in three rounded
prominences, the middle one being double and covered with
very thick bristles. The abdominal and thoracic spiracles are
very distinct.

Legs thinly clad with hairs, of moderate length, very
strong, and the tarsi are six-jointed, the fifth jomt being the
largest ; the sixth supports two very large acuminated and
sharp claws, bent on themselves; the foot-cushions are whitish,
and of moderate size.

Wings about .*,ths of an inch in length; ribs very distinct,
the first one fringed with a row of short, thick hairs.

Genus Srresia, Wiedemann.

. Eyes small, triangular. Ocelli? Wings incumbent,
rotundate, longer than the abdomen, with parallel veins.
These small flies, of which only two or three species are known,
infest only and live exclusively on bats.

Strebla molossa, Giglioli, sp.nov. (fig. 12).—This interesting
species is found on the Chinese Molossus, together with the
following.

Head rounded, covered with hairs, and placed far between
the anterior legs. Antenne short and broad, covered with hairs.
A sub-ovate clypeus is very distinctly marked off from the rest
of the head. Eyes rudimentary; I could find no ocelli.

Thorax oval and elongated, covered with short hairs; it has
a median groove on the ventral side.

The abdomen is elongated, covered with long, thick hairs ;
in one specimen, very likely a male, towards its extremity were
two long blade-like organs, doubtless subserving copulatory
purposes ; in the other specimen the abdomen terminates in
a median rounded prominence.

Legs of moderate length, the posterior pair the longest;
they are very hairy, and the joints broad and flattened.
The tarsi end in two very sharp, uncinated claws ; the foot-
cushions are large, and covered with long, thin hairs ; the last
joint of the tarsi, which supports the claws, widens consider-
ably distally.

Wings ample, long, and broad, fringed all round with short

GIGLIOLI, ON PARASITICAL INSECTS FROM CHINA. 25

hairs, and covered with a downy hair, amongst which are
scattered a few larger hairs; veins distinct and parallel ;
length about ~,th of aninch. The length of the body is a
‘little more than —=!;th of an inch.

The following most interesting insect belongs to that
anomalous family the Nycteribiide, wingless, long-legged,
spider-like creatures, which inhabit exclusively Vespertiliones.
Professor Westwood, who kindly examined my specimens,
proposed to make them types of a new genus; and having
lately studied the Nycteribiide with some care, I cannot but
agree as to the propriety of such a thing.

Genus Potyctenss, Westwood and Giglioli.

Head large and prominent, elongated, obtuse, and rounded
in front; on its posterior dorsal part is a plate of a
nearly semicircular form, edged all round with thick spines.
On the sides of the fore part of the head are two three-jointed
organs (antenneze ?), bent backwards. A short neck-like piece
joins the head to the thorax, which is elongated and divided
into two parts.

The prothoraz is double the size of the metathoraz, and is
bordered posteriorly with a line of large spines, as those on
the head in the male.

Abdomen of moderate size; it enlarges distally, and is
segmented.

Anterior legs rather short, the two following pairs rather
long and slender.

Polyctenes molossus, Westwood and Giglioli (Pl. 1s, figs.
13 and 14).—This remarkable creature inhabits the Chinese
Molossus.

Body ofa light colour, about ;°,ths of an inch in length.

Head rounded in front, where a well-marked clypeus, of a
nearly semilunar shape, is divided off ; just under its posterior
angles are inserted the two antenne (?); over their insertion
are five large spines on each side; these do not exist in the
other specimen, which I take to be a female. Each antenna
consists of three rather thick, cylindroid joints, the basal one
being the longest and the thickest; a few hairs fringe their
inner borders, and they are bent backwards. Do they at all
correspond to the organs which have been termed palpi and
maxilli in Nycteribia? The integument of the head is finely
striated ; a few hairs are scattered over it. I could make out
nothing like eyes, and therefore suppose that those organs do
not exist.

The buccal apparatus appears well developed, and very

26 GIGLIOLI, ON PARASITICAL INSECTS FROM CHINA.

similar to that of Nycteribia. At the back of the dorsal
part of the head is a large semicircular plate, wider than it;
its anterior margin is fringed with large truncated spines,
while the posterior margin has a row of lanceolate spines; in
the female this plate is rather smaller, and has anteriorly a
double row of large spines, and posteriorly an incomplete row
of large hairs.

The thorax is large, covered with hairs; the prothorax is
sub-oval, fringed posteriorly by a line of large lanceolate
spines ; the prothorax in the female is more distinct, and has
not the posterior line of spines. The metathorax in the male
is much smaller than the prothorax, and ends in a point; in
the female it consists of two oval pieces.

The abdomen is divided into nine segments in both my
specimens, one of which I take to be a male; it has a
broader abdomen, with a pointed, bent, copulatory organ on
the last segment. In the female the last segment has a
rounded terminal prominence. In both sexes the abdomen
is covered with hairs.

The anterior legs are short and strong, terminating in two
small claws and several spines; their femora are very broad.
The intermediate and posterior pairs of legs are much longer
and more slender. ‘Their tarsi terminate in two uncinated
and sharp claws, with two tubercles at their base in the male,
and lower down on the tarsi of the female are two more claws.
I observed no rudiments of wings.

All the insects described in this paper were collected at
Amoy. :

TRANSLATION,

On Myoryxtes WrisMANNI; @ NeW ParasitnE, inhabiting the
Moscuius of the Froa.*

In the course of his investigations into the termination of
the nerves in the cutaneous thoracic muscle of the thorax of
Rana temporaria, Prof. Koélliker observed several nematode
worms, ‘These were sent to Prof. Eberth, who gives the
following account of the parasite, the discovery of which was
briefly announced in our last number.

A portion of the muscle in question, which had been
rendered slightly transparent by acetic acid, when examined
by the naked eye, exhibited nothing remarkable; but under
a magnifying power of about 60 diam., the author discovered,
after some search, three minute nematodes. A higher power
enabled him to ascertain that two of these worms lay partly
extended and partly coiled up in the interior of the primitive
fibres, and only one free in the perimysium. The former were
themselves again included in an excessively delicate cylindri-
cal sacculus of varying length, and either straight or curved.
The walls of this sac were in close contact with the adjoining
fibrille, which were compressed together by it. The walls
of this tubular sac appeared in some places to meet, so that the
cavity seemed to end in an acute point; but careful observa-
tion and focussing showed that the cavity was continued beyond
this constriction, gradually enlarging to its original diameter,
and terminating in a well-defined, rounded opening, which
appeared, as it were, to have been bored through the sar-
colemma.

A similar opening was several times noticed in fibres of
the same muscle which contained no parasites. In the
length of about 1smm., of three contiguous fibres, one pre-
sented four such perforations, either disposed in a line
parallel with the longitudinal axis or irregularly placed. In
the former, the tube commencing at one of these orifices
was clearly seen to open through the next one. No tube could
be seen proceeding from the third orifice; whilst the fourth,

* «Zeitsch, f. wiss. Zool.,’ xii, p. 580,

28 ON MYORYKTES WEISMANNI.

again, communicated with a tube which became much atte-
nuated towards its termination. Each of the other two
fibres presented a single orifice, but only one of these was
seen clearly to be in connection with a tube which gradually
narrowed and terminated in a short extremity; the third
fibre contained no parasite.

Nematodes were also found in a cylindrical closed sacculus,
which otherwise differed from the former only in the greater
thickness of its walls. But this appeared to be merely the
cast-off outer integument, from which the worm had not yet
fully freed itself, and which had, probably, become dis-
tended at both ends by a fluid secretion from the inhabitant.
On this account the structure might readily be taken for an
elongated, cylindrical cyst, in close apposition with the body
of the worm, except at the two ends.

The same thing was subsequently observed in fresh speci-
mens. The parasites were on this occasion also seen be-
tween the fibrille, moving sometimes in a straight, some-
times in an oblique direction, and always surrounded with
the above-described delicate pouch, which, from its con-
sistence, seemed to consist of a viscid or mucous substance.

The two sexes of the parasites observed in March were
exactly alike in outward appearance and size. Their
length was from 0:162—0:216 mm., and breadth 0:0135—
0:0162 mm. The body was cylindrical, straight, and termi-
nated at each end, after narrowing, for a short distance, in a
knob-like, rounded enlargement, which was less and not so
well defined at the anterior than at the posterior end.

In the mouth was contained a short, horny rod, termi-
nating in front in a minute head, and which might serve as a
boring instrument. A very delicate transverse line in the
integument immediately behind the oval opening probably
indicated a fine annular ridge, or an annular series of
numerous fine tubercles or denticles, but no structure of
the kind could be clearly made out even with a magnify-
ing power of 500 diameter. The supposition was suggested
by the observation that the diameter of the holes in the
sarcolemma corresponded, for the most part pretty exactly,
with that of the worm at the situation of this fine line.

The integument is smooth, and beneath it may be seen a
ie longitudinal muscular layer. There are no median
ines.

The cesophagus is a cylindrical canal, lined with a firm
structureless membrane. The intestine is lined with a simple
tesselated epithelium. The rectum is short, and without
epithelium. The anus is situated a little in front of the
knob-like caudal enlargement.

_ ON MYORYKTES WEISMANNI. 29

The female generative tube is double, and the vaginal ori-
fice slightly prominent, or placed at the commencement of the
hinder fourth of the length.

The ¢estis is a short, cylindrical tube, which opens with
the intestine. There is a pair of spicula.

The rudimentary generative products consisted of minute
nuclei. In the female these were surrounded with a gra-
nular substance, and became minute polygonal egg-cells. In
the male no further development towards zoosperms was ob-
served. Nothing definite as regards nerves and ganglia
could be made out.

In the first case, the author, besides the thoracic muscle,
found some of the parasites in various other striped muscles,
as in the tongue and heart, although in small numbers; they
were also seen by him in the peritoneal coat of the liver,
and in the submucous tissue on the tongue. None were
found, though sought for, in the intestine and other viscera,
nor under the peritoneum of the abdominal cavity. The
young condition of the parasites, the frequent occurrence of
free individuals in the conncctive tissue, left no room for
doubt that they had only just commenced their migration.
The author endeavoured, therefore, by further observations,
to ascertain the ultimate fate of the host.

In all, ninety individuals of Rana temporaria were examined
—thirteen with success. In spring (March), the author found
the parasite always in every sixth frog, to the number of two
or three in the thoracic muscle; whilst in June, in thirty-
one frogs, they occurred only three times in three distinct
individuals, and never more than one in each. At this time,
therefore, they had become rarer, especially the males, which
were never met with after April.

The investigation was carried on in the remainder of the
winter-frogs, in some of which the parasites had been first
noticed. Of fresh frogs, the author has examined only a
few, and these without success. They are not included
amongst the ninety above mentioned.

Afterwards the author confined his examination to the
thoracic muscle, being convinced that the minute and deli-
cate parasites may be easily overlooked in preparations which
are not very transparent ; nor in the other muscles is it easy
to make equally thin sections without disturbing the fibres.
Even in the thoracic muscle it is often difficult to perceive
the nematodes.

It next became evident that the parasites, having once
penetrated into the tissues, increased in size as the season
advanced, and arrived at sexual maturity. Whilst in March

30 ON MYORYKTES WEISMANNI.

the vermicules were 1:162 mm. long and 0°162 mm. broad,
they had in June attained a length of 0594 mm. and a breadth
of 0°189 mm. But excepting the reproductive organs, no
other parts at this time exhibited any special change. These
organs contained at this time, together with young germs,
instead of the minute ova, one or two larger ones, 0°06 mm.
long and 0:0108 wide, and of an elongated form, and consist-
ing of an extremely delicate membrane and a vitellus con-
taining several oil-globules, and surrounded, as it seemed, by a
very delicate vitelline membrane. Sometimes, though rarely,
these ova were found in the primitive fibres. At this season
males were never observed, nor could any zoosperms be
seen in the females. From this circumstance, as well as from
the occurrence of the larger oil-globules in the vitellus, it
would appear that the ova were unimpregnated. On this
account, and owing to the small number of ova met with
(about four), the author did not attempt any experiments in
the way of transplantation.

Having communicated his first observations, made in
March, to Professor Leuckart, the author learnt from him
that, as far back as in 1861, Dr. Weismann, of Frankfort,
had noticed a nematode worm in the rectus femoris of Rana
temporaria, which corresponded in every particular with his
description. In confirmation of this, Professor Leuckart also
forwarded Weismann’s original drawing, which left no doubt
as to the identity of his worm with that described in the
present paper, notwithstanding the existence of some apparent
differences in the minor details.

From what has been said, it will be seen that the new
parasite differs from Trichina spiralis both in structure and
habits; and, as far as can be judged from Mr. Bowman’s
figure (Phil. Trans.,’ 1840, p. 480), in outward appearance it
bears no resemblance to the nematodes found by him in the
primitive fibre of the muscles of the eel, and Mr. Bowman
gives no details respecting the structure, &c. The two are,
however, allied in this respect—that both appear to reach
sexual maturity in the muscle.

The muscular tissue itself does not appear to suffer any
injury from the presence of its guests, which are nourished,
not at the expense of the muscle, but probably only by the
fluids with which it is pervaded.

In this respect it would appear to differ, so far as its effect
upon the muscular tissue is concerned, from both Trichina or
Gordius, whose invasion is eventually, at any rate, attended
with destruction or injury to the muscular substance forming
their nidus.

REVIEWS.

Skin Diseases of Parasitic Origin: their Nature and Treat-
ment. Including the Description and Relations of the Fungi
found in Man. By W. Tizsury Fox, M.D. Lond.
London: R. Hardwicke, 192, Piccadilly. Pp. 210,

Mycotoeists and medical men have to thank Dr. Fox for
the comprehensive and elaborate treatise before us, the first
original one on the subject in the English language. It
treats only of vegetable parasites on man, which would seem
to be a not very extensive field for observation; yet, limited
though it may appear, it has been so neglected or inadequately
treated hitherto, that its condition was little better than
chaotic ; and this too, in a very few years, for thirty have
not passed since Schonlein first described the fungus which
causes favus, aud which now bears his name. Though
the knowledge of the parasites is so recent, many of the dis-
eases to which they give rise have been long recognised, and
were treated:of by the ancients. It may be also mentioned
in connection withthe history of the science, that Leeuwenhoek,
in his ‘ Arcana Nature,’ published near the end of the seven-
teenth century, has figured the Leptothrix buccalis, a small
organism which grows on the decaying food between the teeth
and papille of the tongue.

The author is already known in connection with the sub-
ject of vegetable parasitic disease, by a paper he published in
the ‘ Lancet’ (1859, p. 283), in which opinions were broached
of a very novel kind, but which are similar to those he now
advocates in the present work. That he should still (in 1863)
stand firmly on the same ground which he occupied in 1859,
after much additional research, is, of itself, no slight proof of
the validity of his views.

The parasitic vegetables of man are not, it must be con-
fessed, at first sight, a very enticing field for the researches
of the botanist; and thus it has happened that those which

32 TILBURY FOX, ON SKIN DISEASES

have been observed and described owe their discovery and
description to medical men, who, asa rule, do not possess
sufficient knowledge of the lower forms of vegetable life, in
general, to undertake the proper examination and classification
of these parasitic growths. Thus, to use the words of Mr.
Berkeley, it has come to pass that “ parts of plants have been
described as whole, undeveloped fungi referred to alge, though
agreeing with them neither in habit nor physiology ; the com-
monest moulds, altered by situation, have been described as
new ; whilst in numerous instances slight variations of the
same fungus have been treated as separate species.” More-
over, it must be remembered that few medical men have the
inclination to work at minute botany, even if they could spare
sufficient time to compare the plants with already published
descriptions; test their specific differences, or the contrary,
by artificial cultivation ; and thoroughly investigate the limits
of their variation ; by which course alone the errors detailed
above can be avoided.

Yet though the mere student of fungi may feel an antipa-
thy to the contagious diseases in which these minute organisms
occur, the organisms themselves will well repay a thorough
microscopic examination. It is merely necessary to refer to
the excellent plates* of Dr. Fox’s book (to the accuracy of
which the writer of this article is enabled, in many cases, to
testify), to prove that to the microscopist the subject is by no
means devoid of interest.

The work before us is divided into two parts. The first
treats more especially of the diseases caused by the growth of
parasites ; and though this Journal is not the place to discuss
medical matters, it may be mentioned that the author well
establishes his chief point—the essential difference between
eruptive and parasitic disease. The physician will also be
indebted to Dr. Fox for the very simple classification of these
parasitic skin diseases under one generic title of Tinea, as
follows :—1, Tinea favosa ; 2, T. tonsurans ; 3, T. circinata ;
4, T. sycosis ; 5, T. decalvans ; 6, T. varicolor ; 7, T. Polonica ;
8, 7. pilaris ; 9, T. tarsi. He places at the end that interesting
disease of India, the podelcoma, or fungus foot, which has
lately attracted considerable attention. Many of these, it may
be mentioned, have been considered as different forms of the
same disease by writers; and Dr. Buzen, in his ‘ Lectures on
Parasitic Affections of the Skin,’ reduces them to three :—
T. favense, T. tonsurante (including T. circinata and Plica

* The author tells us in his preface that many of the figures are by a
new process—Kerography—which, in some cases, answers better than
wood for microscopic appearance.

a

OF PARASITIC ORIGIN. 83

Polonica) and T. pilade (including T. sycosis and T. decalvans).
The author also considers that the only state of the organism
which will afford a fitting soil for the growth of fungi is
what he calls the “tuberculous or non-specific eruptive
erasis or tendency ;” but though this may be generally true,
it is not universally so, for the writer of this has seen T. sycosis
more than once in persons certainly affected also with syphi-
litie eruptions ; indeed, Dr. Fox himself says (p. 41) that the
two diseases (parasitic disease and syphilis) may be assoeiated.

Chapter 5, which contains a microscopic description of the
fungi themselves, is, as stated in the preface, mostly a con-
densation of the diffuse descriptions in Kiichenmeister’s
manual, It also contains some useful hints for examination
of the fungi by the microscope, and shows how they may be
distinguished from foreign bodies which imitate their appear-
ance. The characters of the different kinds of fungi are of
little importance, as Dr. Fox shows that they are insufficient
for diagnosis and liable to variation. The chapter on the
appearances presented under the microscope by the lesions
produced, will be read with interest by all who, interested in
the science of medicine, care to know something more of
disease than how to cure it. The plants never grow except
where the hair-follicles are present, a little way down which is
their primary seat, where all the conditions most favorable
to their development are to be found.

Fungi are found pretty commonly on and in both man and
the lower animals. Our author mentions several papers and
books on the subject, and an interesting account may be
added of some very singular forms of fungi found in the in-
testines of species of Julus and allied genera, by Dr. Leidy,
of America, who has paid a good deal of attention to the
subject ; it will be found in vol. v of the Smithsonian papers,
published in 1853.

A list of those which have been described and named by
various authors as growing on man will be interesting ; it is
from the fifth chapter of the book in review. Parasitic fungi
are Epiphytes or Entophytes, as they occur on the skin and
its appendages or the mucous membranes and internal parts
of the body respectively.

A. Eprenyres.—l, Achorion Schonleinii (parasite of Tinea
favosa) ; 2, Trichophyton tonsurans (of Tinea ionsurans and
T. circinata); 8, T. sporulotides (of T. Polonica); 4, T.

-ulcerum ; 5, Microsporon Audouini (of T. decalvans ; 6, Al.
mentagrophytes (of 7’. sycosis) ; 7, M. furfur (of T. versicolor) ;
8, Puccinia (favi of Austen; found growing in cases of 7.

VOL, IV.—NEW SER. c

34 TILBURY FOX, ON SKIN DISEASES

favosa, tarsi, and versicolor ; also in the disease called acne) ;
9, The nail fungus (referred to Aspergillus, Achorion, and
Microsporon, by different authors); 10, Mucor (Mucedo) ;
11, Aspergillus (several kinds) ; 12, Poenicillium (glaucum) ;
18, Chionyphe Cariert (Berkeley ; the fungus which causes
podelcoma in India).

B. Enrorpnyres.—l, Torula (Cryptococcus Cerevisie; 2,-
Sarcina (Merismopedia ventriculi) ; 3, Oideum albicans (in
thrush and diphtheria in the mouth); 4, Leptothrix buccalis
(including some found on other mucous surfaces besides that
of the mouth); 5, Leptomitus (probably one species, but
described as several, viz., L. wrophilus, Hannoveri, uteri, oculi,
and one unnamed); 6, Bennett’s lung fungus (probably O1-
deum) ; 7, Cholera fungi of Busk and others (perhaps Torula ;
many were foreign bodies); 8, Lowe’s fungus of diabetic
urine (an early condition of Aspergillus).

To this list may be added Dr. Farre’s Oscillatoria, found in
the intestines, of which an account is to be seen at the end
of Dr. Lankester’s translation of Kiichenmeister’s manual,
the paper having been read before the Microscopical Society
in 1842. It was probably introduced into the body with
drinking-water, but has as good a claim to be recorded as
many in the above list, especially since Sarcina is considered
by some as the spores of an Oscillatoria. If one is to be
guided merely by the position of the fungi on the body, it
is not evident why, in the list just given, Mucor and Peeni-
cilium are to be reckoned amongst Epiphytes, whilst Ben-
nett’s lung fungus and Leptomitus urophilus, though growing
in similar situations, are considered Entophytes,

A consideration which we consider of importance does not
appear to be so regarded by Dr. Fox—the essential distine-
tion, that is, between true and false parasites. In the second
part of the treatise before us, Dr. Fox, speaking of the differ-
ence between Epiphytes and Entophytes generally allowed to
exist, says (p. 149)—“I confess I do not comprehend the
distinction here pointed out; in either case the fungi require
each its own particular soil for growth, which latter takes
place in consequence of the implantation of the germs upon
a suitable habitat ; and the properties aud tendencies of the
vegetations are the same in the two cases.” Now, the dis-
tinction of Epiphytes and Entophytes is pretty nearly that of
true and false parasites; Tricophyton ulcerum and Puccinia only
among the former being false, and O7dium albicans, and pos-
sibly Sarcina, among the latter, true parasites; so that the
above quotation may be considered as expressing the author’s

OF PARASITIC ORIGIN. 35

view of the alleged distinction. But though his view is
true as far as the parasite is concerned, how different it is
for the patient on whom it grows, whether the fungus is luxu-
riating absolutely on his tissues, or merely on some effused
morbid product, on which it grows as it might on any other
decayed matter. As Dr. Fox well shows, the growth of the
fungi which cause tinea requires the existenee of a peculiar
soil, which depends on a particular diathesis and condition of
blood ; whereas it is evident that such fungi as the forms
called Leptomitus, Mucor, Bennett’s lung fungus, Leptothrix,
Cryptococcus, and perhaps Sarcina, require no such blood-con-
dition; but, with Tricophyton ulcerum and Puccinia, are to
be considered as merely accidental phenomena growing on
soil external to the human body and foreign to it, such as
dried pus or mucus, decaying food, acid fluids, and the like;
they cause no lesion, and are not parasites on the human body
in the true sense of the word.

Dr. Fox’s view on the vexed question of Sarcina ventricult
is that it is never a cause of disease (7 e. it may be called a
false parasite). He adduces a good deal of evidence on his
side, but the question cannot yet be considered as settled.
The writer has seen two cases of continual vomiting during
life of a fluid full of Sarciniz, and no lesion could be detected
after death. (A case in point is also recorded in the ‘ British
Medical Journal’ for February 5th, 1859.)

But the real value of the treatise under review is in the
record of the results which the author has arrived at by expe-
riments and observations on the relations subsisting between
the various so-called species of parasitic fungi, both Epiphytes
and Entophytes. These results are contained in the second
part of the work,and may be summed up thus :—Starting with
the proposition, which he proves, that there is no such thing
as spontaneous generation of fungi, and that the same fungi
may exist in various forms under different conditions of soil,
medium, and the like, Dr. Fox shows conclusively how in-
adequate are the published descriptions of the parasites to
distinguish one from another, and how they assume one
another’s forms. He remarks that there is “no want of
descriptions of the various parasites found; but when the
attempt is made to apply them practically, many will indicate
as well one as another fungus” (p. 115). Moreover, he
demonstrates that the distimctions of the different kinds of
tinez are those of degree, not of kind; and he firmly declares
that the fungus which produces them is one and the same,
merely modified in appearance by its seat and the soil, the

36 TILBURY FOX, ON SKIN DISEASES

latter being always of the same kind, but more or less fayor-
able to the growth of fungi.

The proofs of the identity of the various fungi are too nu-
merous to give adigest of themhere. This diagram, however,
from p. 176, gives a general idea of their connections, Torula
being the centre round which they group themselves.

MICROSPORON MENTACROPHYTES
_— WAIL FUNEUS

ACHORION 2 TRICH, TONSURANS
TRICHOPHYTON SPORULO/DES | FAR FUNCUS
WV
ly
OIDEUM <—— LEFTOMITUS <——( TGRULA ASPERGILLUS —__.
. : > TORULA
PENICILLIUM —

BENNETTS FUNGUS > SARCINA
VACINAL PARAS/TE MUCOR

| PUCO/NIA
ai
FAR FUNGUS — CHIONYPHE CARTER/

Leptothrix is not included m this diagram by Dr. Fox,
though he considers it allied to Torula.

These difficult experiments consisted in growing the fungi
in saccharine solutions and other media, carefully excluded
from the air; they were frequently examined, and the plants
were seen to pass through many forms generally considered
as distinct. Asin such experiments great exactitude is rightly
demanded before implicit faith can be placed in the results
obtained, Dr. Fox states that more details can be forthcoming,
if necessary. Supposing everything correct—and we firmly
believe so from the great care evidently bestowed on his ex-
periments by the investigator, and from what he says in the
preface—absolute proof of the identity of these fungi is given.

There is only one fallacy into which we think it possible
Dr. Fox may have fallen, and that is, the mistaking of s¢mi-
larity for identity ; we are reminded of this by figures 8, 10,
11, and 13, of plate 11, which represent the results of an ex-
periment proving that Sarcina can be produced from the
aggregation of the spores of Peenicillium. These quaternate
aggregations of spores certainly present some similarity to
Sarcina ; but, if correctly figured, scarcely seem to be iden-
tical. It is possible, though by no means proved, that Sarcina
may be the spores of a fungus, as Mr. Berkeley observes,
(‘ Gardener’s Chronicle, 1857)—-though why it should never
develop a Mycelium under the most favorable circumstances
for such development is not evident—but that every quaternate

OF PARASITIC ORIGIN. 37

ageregation of spores is Sarcina, does not follow ; indeed, that
ageregation has anything to do with its formation is very
problematical.

Many of the diseases (tinea) have been made to produce
one another, and more proof of this kind could be brought,
but Dr. Fox rightly objects to turning his patients’ skins
into miniature botanic gardens.

An excellent and philosophical theory of the treatment of
tinea in accordance with the views propounded concludes the
work.

The author says (preface, p. vi), “I claim for my facts the
character of trustworthiness, since everything has been re-
jected which repeated observation has not, in my mind,
shown to be the truth.” This character of trustworthiness is
evidenced throughout the treatise, which also shows unmis-
takeably the great care and research bestowed on its prepa-
ration. We hope that the subject will not be considered as
exhausted, but that the appearance of Dr. Fox’s book will
lead to further observation on the parasites of man, both by
botanists and medical men.

We may mention that the book is well printed and got up
by Mr. Hardwicke, and that only two misprints were observed
by the writer of this article.

38 WOGG, ON OPHTHALMOSCOPIC SURGERY.

A Manual of Ophthalmoscopic Surgery. By Januz Hoge.
London: Churchills.

Mr. Hoge was one of the earliest English writers on the
advantages and uses of the ophthalmoscope, and his work on
the application of that instrument to diseases of the eye
has deservedly reached a third edition. It does not come
within our scope to criticise a work like this, but we cannot
forbear our commendation of those portions of Mr. Hogg’s
work which treat of the microscopic structure of the eye.
Whatever value the ophthalmoscope possesses as an instru-
ment which enables the surgeon to look quite into the
interior of the eye, there can be no doubt that the value of
this instrument has been greatly enhanced by the light which
microscopic investigation has thrown upon the minute struc-
tures of the eye. Nay, more, we believe that those who have
been best trained to observe with the microscope will be
found most competent to use the ophthalmoscope. Both
instruments, in fact, involve the same general principles of
optics, and by both the observing eye is helped to obtain a
more accurate knowledge of the thing observed. It is very
evident, from the way in which Mr. Hogg has treated his
subject in the introductory chapters, that he has approached
the study of the ophthalmoscope with that knowledge of
optical principles that peculiarly fits him to be an instructor
in the art of using this instrument, and we have no hesitation
in recommending his work to all those who are anxious to
master the important art of distinguishing the various forms
of disease that are indicated by the state of the interior of
the eye. The work is illustrated with a series of chromo-
lithographs of diseased conditions of the interior of the eye,
and also woodcuts representing the microscopic structure of
the liquids of the eye.

FREY, ON THE MICROSCOPE. 39

Das Mikroskop, und die mikroskopische Technik ; ein Hand-
buch fur Arzte und Sludirende. (The Microscope, and
its Mode of Application, &c.) By Dr. Hernricn Frey.
8vo, Zurich, 1863, pp. 472.

A wELL got-up and imposing-looking work on the micro-
scope has lately appeared under the above title, which,
however, is anything but fully expressive of its contents.
The work, in fact, consists of two principal divisions.
The first 156 pages only relate to the instrument itself,
its appurtenances, and the various methods to be followed
in the observation, preparation, and preservation of objects;
the remainder, except the last 22 pages, is simply a sort of
compendium of such parts of histology as.may be useful to
the medical student. The last 22 pages, which are num-
bered consecutively to the rest, and evidently intended to
form part of the book, contain merely lists of prices of the
various forms of instruments constructed by all the more
eminent continental and English makers— matters, we
should conceive, hardly worthy of being placed in the body,
as it were, of a professedly scientific work, though useful
enough perhaps to the student who may be in search of an
instrument, and at a loss to know where to look for one
suited to his wants or means

The technical part of the book appears to have been con-
ceived with the same design, and pretty much on the plan—a
little amplified it is true—of Dr. Beale’s excellent ‘Microscope
in Clinical Medicine, and How to Work with the Micro-
scope.’

Considering its scope and objects, the work, though perhaps
scarcely called for, in the presence of so many others of the
same kind, is well done, and contains a great amount of
useful information.

The seventh section or chapter is particularly full upon the
subject of the application of reagents of different refractive
power, or different chemical properties in the examination of
objects; and we are unacquainted with any work in which
these matters are better treated of. The eighth section is
devoted to colouring matters; and with reference to this we
may remark that Dr. Frey does not seem to be acquainted with
the peculiar effects of magenta-dye on the blood-corpuscles,
nor of tannic acid on the same bodies.

We have already observed that the book is well got up. It
is beautifully printed, and on excellent paper, and abundantly

40 FREY, ON THE MICROSCOPE.

illustrated by woodcuts; but we cannot avoid remarking
that it affords the most glaring instance with which we are
acquainted of an unscrupulous method of swelling the bulk
of a book, and of adding to its apparent richness of illustra-
tion, too often adopted by our German brethren in science.
We allude to the incessant and perfectly needless repetition
of the same woodcut in different places ; for instance, there is

a large cut occupying more than half a page, representing
rately a section of the compound microscope, which occurs
three times on nearly as many pages, viz., pp. 18, 22, 24;
whilst another cut, representing in two places (pp. 2] and 48)
the mode of arrangement of the lenses in a compound, cor-
recting objective, does duty at p. 59 for Hartnack’s immersion-
lens! A large fioure of Hartnack’s instrument recurs three
times, occupying at least a quarter of a page each time; one
of M. Nachet’s twice, &c., &c. In the histological part also
the same figures, and some at any rate not “original ones,
recur over and over again. A section of the gastric mucous
membrane is given in pp. 265 and 3806; one of a Peyer’s
gland, in pp. 261 and 312, &c., &e. ; whilst actually on oppo-
site pages (190 and 191) is the same little woodcut of organic
particles in urine, both in sight at the same time. This is
book-making with a vengeance.

ee —— EEE

NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE.

Ross's New Compressorium.—-Microscopists who have suf-
fered the inconvenience inseparable from ordinary forms
given to a compressorium, will thank us for calling their
attention to an enterely new pattern devised by Mr. Ross.
It consists of a stout plate of brass (A), about three inches
long, having in its centre a
piece of glass like the bot-
tom of alive box. This piece
of glass is set in a frame (B),
which slides in and out, so
that it can be removed for
the convenience of preparing
any object upon it, under
water, if desirable. The up-
per movable part D, attached
to a screw motion at C, is
admirable for simplicity and
efficiency. At one end of
the brass plate A, which
forms the bed of the instru-
ment, is an upright piece of
brass (C), accurately grooved,
so as to receive a vertical
plate, to which a downward
motion is given by a single
fine screw, surrounded by a spiral spring, which elevates
the plate, as soon as the screw. pressure is removed, by
turning the milled head the reverse way. The vertical plate
carries an arm precisely at right angles to its own plane, and
terminating in a square frame (D) capable of receiving very
thin or somewhat thicker glass, according to desire. This is
the upper part of the compressorium, and the exact amount
of pressure required is completely under command by the
motion of a single screw. The arm has likewise a horizontal
motion, so that the upper plate D can be turned completely

42 MEMORANDA.

off the lower one, B. Should the thin upper glass be broken,
it can be instantly replaced, as no cement is required. It is
merely needful to remove the fragments and slip a fresh glass
in. We do not know any compressorium that is at once so
accurate and so easily used. It often happens that, on ac-
count of the trouble of an ordinary compressorium, a micro-
scopist simply uses a slide and a piece of covering glass, and
finds, when too late, that an exact means of regulating the
pressure would have been desirable. With Mr. Ross’s new
pattern the convenience is so great that it should always be
employed if there is a chance of the screw motion being ad-
vantageous.—F rom the Intellectual Observer for Oct., 1863.

Cheap Lantern Polariscope.— Mr. Samuel Highley, the
microscope and philosophical instrument maker of Green
Street, Leicester Square, has just introduced an arrangement
that has long been a desideratum with those who delight in
popularising science, namely, a polariscope that could be
used in conjunction with the numberless magic-lanterns that
are now scattered over the kingdom and our colonies, with-
out entailing the risk and trouble of sending them to the
optician “ to be fitted ” with such an adjunct, and at a cost
that is within the means of most persons who indulge in
such pursuits.

Doubtless most of our readers are familiar with the mag-
nificent chromatic phenomena of polarized light, too seldom
shown in our lecture-rooms, on account of the hitherto costly
character of the apparatus necessary for its proper display,

though frequently shown on a small scale in microscopes at —

soirées and on our drawing-room tables. All who have seen
such instruments will readily understand how beautiful the
effect must be when such objects are projected on a screen
by means of a powerful light.

By the aid of the polariscope we are enabled to make slices of
crystals, homogeneous in aspect, reveal their “inner nature,”

as the Germans have it; so that by the characteristic appear- -

ance of the rings produced, or angle between the optic axes,
we are enabled to determine between the two species of a
mineral which may be identical as to chemical constitution.
Thus, if two fragments of crystal came into our hands, by a
chemical assay we migut find that each consisted of carbonate
of lime; but an optical examination in the polariscope would
at once show us that one piece was the species calcite, while
the other was arragonite; the former, belonging to the
hexagonal system of crystallization, being characterised by

. yo re oh

MEMORANDA. 43

a single (uni-axial) system of prismatically coloured rings,
with a cross in the centre, changing from black to white
according to the position of the analyser; while the latter
belonged to the trimetric system, characterised by a double
(bi-axial) system of rings, grouped like a figure of «; and
these optical differences would also indicate differences in the
physical properties of the two fragments, such as their hard-
ness, specific gravity, cleavage, fracture, &c. Then, again,
minerals of various chemical constitution belonging to such
erystailme systems as exhibit bi-axial axes, may be distin-
guished by determining the angular value between the centres
of the two systems of rings, the distance between the cen-
tres of the two loops in the figure of o form being greater
in some species that in that of others. Thus, the extensive
series of micas are now arranged into a few groups charac-
terised by the angular distance between the centres of the
bi-axial rings. But the most gorgeous effects are produced
by films of those very cleavable minerals, mica and selenite ;
for every plate of a given thickness having a definite colour-
value, we are able to produce an indefinite variety of colour-
tints. If the film of selenite is uniform in thickness, it
produces an even tint; if of varying thickness, a magnificent
assemblage of colours is the result.

Taking advantage of this fact, the ingenious optician builds
up designs of various pretensions to artistic beauty, from
mere stars of varied-colour rays, to dying dolphins, groups
of flowers, bunches of grapes, and Gothic windows; or,

Ad. MEMORANDA.

descending from the sublime to the ridiculous—of which
these designs are susceptible—a baker is changed into a
sweep: for every design has two phases of colour, one being
what is technically termed “complementary” to the other,
dependent upon the position of the analyser ; for if the grapes
appear “ruby bright,” by rotating the analyser a quarter of
a circle they change to green, or a group of blue flowers to
the “sere and yellow leaf.’ But these chromatic displays
are not confined to mineral structures; for vegetable bodies,
such as fous les mois, one of the starches, shows a black cross,
similar to that seen in cale-spar; and such substances as
whalebone and rhinoceros-horn present the most gorgeous
display of colour, the phenomena being dependent upon
varying degrees of tension in the structure of those and
similar bodies.

To those who would wish to make themselves familiar with
this interesting and important branch of physical science,
we would recommend the works of Woodward and Pereira,
both being treated in a popular style.

But to return to Mr. Highley’s instrument, figured in the
annexed woodeut. The various parts are mounted on what
the inventor calls a “gout-board support;” the upright is
fitted with an adjustable panel, that carries a bundle of glass
plates on one side and the stage and power on the other;
this allows of the entire arrangement being accurately “ cen-
tred” with any lantern with which it may be employed;
when adjusted, the panel is clamped by means of a milled-
head screw. The “bundle” consists of such a number of
thin glass plates as will give a bright reflected heam of polar-
ized light, and is attached to the panel at the proper angle
for producing such a beam. ‘The spring stage for carrying
selenite designs, unannealed glasses, pressure and heating
clamps, and the larger objects, is formed within a large tube
attached to the front side of the panel; and to the front
of this is screwed a spring jacket, within which slides the
power and stage for the smaller crystals employed. To the
front part of the base-board an adjustable rod is fixed that
carries the analyser, which consists of a large prism, made
expressly for the purpose of giving a large and pure field of
colour, the absolute fieid attainable being, of course, dependent
on the intensity of the source of light employed, as oil, oxy-
calcium, oxy-hydrogen, or the electric. Provision is made
for rotating both the smaller and larger ohjects, when neces-
sary for the demonstration of certain phenomena. When
selenite designs are shown on the screen, the crystal power
is replaced with another of suitable construction. ‘T'o use

MEMORANDA. 4D

this polariscope, the nozzle is placed at right angles to the
screen, and the base-board is then clamped to the table.
The front lenses of the magic-lantern are removed, the con-
densers only being employed, and the source of light moved
till a beam of parallel rays is produced; the lantern-nozzle
is then pointed at the bundle till the rays are incident at the
polarizing angle for glass, the proper direction being indicated
for the uninitiated by a white lme marked on the frame-
work, the right adjustment of parts being further indicated
by the appearance of an even disc of light upon the screen.
A design is then inserted in the large stage, its lines of con-
struction focussed, the analysing prism inserted i in its jacket,
and the coloured effect produéed and varied either by the
rotation of the prism or the rotation of the design or
crystal.

By removing the panel from the support and placing it
before a window, with nozzle pointing upwards, and adding a
suitable power, it may be then used as a table polariscope,
or the light of a reading-lamp may be employed as the source
of light.

By this simplification of parts, Mr. Highley is enabled to
supply an instrument—which, for practical purposes, can
hardly be surpassed for efficiency—at one half the price at
which the gas polariscopes hitherto constructed have been
sold. We fancy that many will appreciate this attempt to
bring a costly instrument within the reach of experimentalists.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Microscorican Soormty oF Lonpon.
October 14th, 1863.
Cuartes Brooxn, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Dr. Preort, of Halifax, and W. H. B. Hunt, Esq., were bal-
loted for, and duly elected members of the Society.

Mr. Beck read a paper, being a description of a stand fora
simple microscope, as an arrangement for using the magnifiers with
both eyes.

November 11th, 1863.

CHarrzs Brooxe, Esq., President, in the Chair.

W. Vicary, Esq., W. T. Suffolk, Esq., Wm. Berry, Esq., F.
Walker, Esq., Edward Tyer, Esq., J. Browning, Esq., Edward
Wilkinson, Esq., and E. Cowan, Esq., were balloted for, and duly
elected members of the Society.

The following papers were read :—

1. “On the genus Bacteriastrum,” by H. 8. Lander, Esq.

2. “On Diatomaces, Series No. 11,” by Dr. Greville.

3. “On the Distribution of Nerves to the Skin of the Frog,
with Physiological Remarks on the Ganglia connected with the
Cerebro-spinal Nerves,” by Dr. Ciaccio.

The President called the attention of the meeting to the
Quekett Memorial Fund. He stated the object of the fund
to be the award, at intervals, of a medal to persons producing
papers of interest, or otherwise forwarding the progress of
microscopical science. He also announced that the list of sub-
scribers was still open, the sum subscribed not being as yet ade-
quate to carry out the object proposed with efficiency.

December 9th, 1863.

Cuantes Brooke, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Charles Robinson, Esq , and John Jordan, Esq., were balloted
for, and duly elected members of the Society.
Dr. L. Beale read a paper “ On the Blood-corpuscles,””

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES,

47

PRESENTATIONS TO THE MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY,
1863.

October 14th, 1863.

Figures of the Structure of Invertebrate Animals, by

Robert Garner, Esq., F.L.S.

Hunterian Oration, delivered at the Royal ‘College of

Surgeons, by G. Gulliver, Esq., F.R.S.

Researches on tive Development of the Spinal Cord of

Man, Mammalia, and Birds, by Dr. Lockhart
Clarke.

International Exhibition, Jurors’ Report, Class XIII.

Synopsis of the Geology of Durham and part of Nor-
thumberland, by R. House, Hsq., & J.W. Kirby, ra

The Popular Science Review, Nos. Sand9 .

The Intellectual Observer, Nos.18to21 .

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, No. 75

he Canadian Journal, Nos. 45 “and 46

Transactions of the ‘Tyneside Naturalists’ Field Club,
Vol. VI, Part 1 ; :

Smithsonian Report, 1861

Boston Journal of Natural History, Vol. VII.

Proceedings of the Boston Natural History Society, 1862

Micro- -photograph taken by Mr. Davis, Cornhill

November 11th.

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, No. 76

Proceedings of the Linnean Society

Bulletins des séances de la classe des sciences

Annuaire de Académie Royale, 1863

Intellectual Observer, No. 22 :

Journal of Photography, No. 201 .

The Annals and Magazine of Natural Histor % Nos. 07
to 71

December 9th.

Intellectual Observer, No 23

The Canadian Journal, No. 47

Photographic Journal, No.139 ..

Journal of Photogr aphy, Nos. 202 and 203

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 72

On the Cotton-fibre, and on the Manner in which it
Unites with Colouring. matter, by Walter Crum,

Ksq., F.R.S., and 36 Microscopic Slides from which

the Drawi ings for the Plates were taken

Presented by
The Author.
Ditto.

Ditto.

SG8. Roper, Esq.

The Authors,
The Editor.
Ditto.

The Society.
Ditto.

Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
E. G. Lobb, Esq,

The Society.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
The Editor.
Ditto.

Purchased.

The Editor.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto
Purchased.

The Author.

W. G. Szarson, Curator.

48 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

LireRAry and PriLosopnicatn Socrery, MANCHESTER.
MICROSCOPICAL SECTION.

Annual Meeting, May 18th, 1863.
A. G. Larnam, Esq., in the Chair.

The annual report of the section for session 1862-63 was
read, and officers appointed for the ensuing session.

A communication on “ The Structure of the Cotton Fibre,” by
Mr. Charles O’ Neill, F.C.8., was then read, in which the author
states that chloride of zinc, as neutral as it could be made by
digesting with metallic zinc, and also diluted sulphuric acid, would,
under favorable circumstances, exhibit all the phenomena de-
seribed by the author in his first communication. Chloride of
zinc, however, required to be heated to its boiling-point, and
sulphuric acid appeared very capricious in its action, The ap-
pearances produced by these reagents lead him to the same con-
clusions with regard to the structure of cotton; but he is more
decidedly of opinion than he was before, that the so-called medul-
lary matter is in reality a shrunk membrane similar in appear-
ance to the membrane in dried quills. Finding that all known
solvents of cotton gave the same appearances, Mr. O’Neill tried
the action of solvents on gun-cotton, and found a further confir-
mation in the action of ether upon it.

It is well known that there art two modifications of gun-cotton,
one soluble, the other insoluble in ether; but the author finds
three varieties—(1) soluble in ether, but insoluble in ammoniuret
of copper; (2) insoluble in ether, but soluble or dilutable in
ammoniuret of copper; and (8), perfectly unacted upon either
by ether or ammoniuret of copper. Operating on the first variety
on the stage of the microscope with ordinary ether, it is almost
instantly dissolved, with no evidence of structure, until, after a
while, careful observation shows some remains of spiral vessels.
By gradually diluting the ether with alcohol, the action is slackened
until a point is arrived at when exactly the same phenomena are
produced as by the copper solution. About two thirds ether and
one third alcohol was found to be a suitable mixture; but this
will evidently vary with different preparations.

Mr. O’Neill considers the number of turns of one spiral to be
certainly not greater than from 1100 to 1300 in the inch, and
generally much less than. this, the mean of many countings run-
ning between 600 and 700 for the contracted fibre.

Mr. A. G. Latham made the following communication :—

It may be remembered that some few months ago I proposed to
this section as a subject for discussion, “The Causes of the
Metallic Lustre of the Scales on the Wings of certain Moths.”

I then suggested that the metallic markings, and lustre of the

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 49

scales themselves forming these markings, are consequent on the
fact of the scales containing a particular pigment or colouring
matter, while other members thought it might proceed solely
from light reflected from the irregular surfaces of the scales.

On examining lately, by transmitted light, the wings on one
of the clear-winged moths—Sesia tipuliformis—I found on the
transparent portion of the wing, and in addition to the markings
on the wing, certain other scales of battledore form, and perfectly
transparent.

An examination with a higher power showed these scales to be
highly striate, and, therefore, in the most proper condition for
producing, according to the advocates of the theory I oppose,
metallic lustre and metallic markings; and that they are in a
condition to produce these effects, were the theory correct, is
further shown on examination by reflected light—when, as might
be expected from the markings, the scales are most beautifully
opalescent, but, wanting internal pigment, give out no metallic
markings on the wing, and a strong proof is, therefore, given in
fayour of the theory broached by me.

Ordinary Meeting, October 19th, 1863.
Professor W. C. Winttamson, F.R.S., in the Chair.

The following paper “ On Transparent Injections,” by Messrs.
J. G. Dale, F.C.S., and Thos. Davies, was read by the Secretary.

After enumerating the various desiderata of a transparent in-
jecting fluid, it was observed that soluble colouring matters failed
to fulfil them, owing to the action of endosmos, causing them
merely to dye the tissue sought to be injected. This defect is
shown to be remedied by the use of insoluble colouring matters in
an exceedingly fine state of subdivision, which can only be pre-
pared by precipitation under constant agitation, and the following
recipe is stated to succeed admirably, showing vessels of 39/55 of
an inch, with a clear outline even under a + objective, without
any grain or extravasation of the colouring matter :—

Take 180 grains best carmine, } fluid oz. ammonia, com. strength,
SG 0-92, or 15 degrees ammonia meter, 3 to 4 oz. distilled water.
Put into a small flask, and allow to digest without heat 24 to 36
hours, or until the carmine is dissolved. Then take a Winchester
quart bottle, and with a diamond mark upon it the spot to which
16 oz. of water extend. The coloured solution must then be
filtered into the bottle, and to this pure water must be added until
the whole is equal to 16 0z. Next dissolve 600 grains in potash
alum in about 10 fluid oz. of water, and add to this under constant
boiling a solution of carbonate of sodium, until a slight permanent
precipitate is produced. Filter and add water up to 16 fluid oz.
Boil, and add this solution while boiling to the cold ammoniacal
solution of carmine in the Winchester quart, and shake vigorously
for a few minutes. A drop now placed upon white filtering paper

VOL. IV.—NEW SER. D

50 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

should show no colouring ring; should it do so, the whole must
be rejected. Supposing the precipitation to be complete or very
nearly so, shake vigorously for half an hour, and allow to stand
till quite cold; the shaking must then be reuewed, and the bottle
filled up with cold water.

After allowing the precipitate to settle for a day, draw off the
clear supernatant fluid with a syphon. Repeat the washing till
the clear fluid gives little or no precipitate with chloride of barium.
So much water must be left with the fluid that at last it must
measure 40 fluid oz. For the injection fluid take 240z. of the
above coloured fluid, and 3 oz. of good gelatine, allow these to
remain together all night, then dissolve by the heat of a water
bath, after which it should be strained through fine muslin. On
injecting, the ordinary precautions for a gelatine injection are
alone necessary.

Professor Williamson stated that, owing to the unexpected
absence of his esteemed friend, Mr. Sidebotham, he had been
suddenly called upon to give the members of the society an
address at the opening of the session. With so short a warning
it was not an easy task; still, as a few stimulating words might
lead to extra exertion, he would make a few remarks on the
present position of the microscopic observers. Their numbers in
Manchester were necessarily small compared with London. Per-
haps there were not twenty microscopists in this city really at
work; few were able to devote the time to the energetic and
laborious efforts which original investigation required, and of
these fewer had the talent or even the ambition to undertake what
requires weeks, months, nay, often years of arduous toil. The
hindrances are increased by the fact, that there is rarely a definite
end sufficiently certain of attainment in the way of a new dis-
covery, calculated to repay the expenditure of labour.

Hence, in a small society like ours, we cannot expect great or
brilliant results. But further, the present is not an epoch like
that when Ehrenberg revolutionised an entire branch of science,
or when Grew laid the foundations of vegetable physiology, and
Malpighi that of the animal kingdom. ‘These men revealed en-
tirely new fields of inquiry. But though no such new worlds of
histology are opened out to us, there are such a multitude of
secondary details requiring elucidation, that we cannot take up a
plant or insect without stumbling upon a multiplicity of problems
awaiting investigation. One shrewd observer, when eating his
orange, discovers upon them some brown scales. He follows up
the inquiry they suggest, and the result is an elaborate paper on
the coccus of the orange.

Even where members are not prepared for original researches
they still may do excellent service by examining the ground gone
over by other men, whose views require corroboration before their
somewhat startling conclusions can be unhesiiatingly received.
He would refer to such inquiries as Dr. Hicks’s on the conversion
of the protoplasm of the Volvox into free-moying Amebe, and to

ee a

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 5l

those of Dr. Balbiani on the sexuality of the Polygastrica, as
illustrations. These researches require re-examination and further
confirmation ; and whilst the latter would give the results attained
a fixed place in scientific annals, their rejection, should they prove
erroneous, would remove stumbling-blocks out of the way. In
fact, all discoveries required careful reinvestigation. Observers
were often too sanguine, and drew large inductions from small
and defective data, and this work of supervision was one in which
our members might successfully engage. He also thought it
desirable to warn the members against the contracting tendencies
of minute microscopic research as opposed to philosophic breadth.
If men limit their ambition to resolving the small markings of
diatoms, apart from the great physiological questions to which
they bear relation, they will inevitably succumb to this paralysing
influence. They must be careful not to lose themselves in the
mere examination of details, but to keep in view that the discovery
of general laws should be their object, to the attainment of which
the former was only a means. Mere details were useful, but to
limit our attention to them crippled the intellect, and rendered
it unable to combine them and trace out their connection with
general laws. It was by keeping the attention fixed on this higher
object that placed our most distinguished histologists on the
pedestals they now occupy; and as it is the duty of every man
to do what he does in the best manner he can, it behoves all
members to keep this lofty aim carefully in view.

The results would then not only advance science and benefit
their fellow-men, but, if worldly fame were their object, they
would reap it in the fullest measure to which they were entitled.

November 17th, 1863.

A paper was read “ On an Apparatus for Measuring Tensile
Strengths, especially of Fibres,” by Mr. Charles O'Neill, F.C..

In the sketch, A is a cylindrical metallic vessel to hold water, and
provided with a cock, ©. B is a hollow cylinder of glass or metal,
closed at the lower end, and so weighted as to float vertically in
stable equilibrium with a portion out of the water; upon its
upper end a hook or clamp to hold the fibre is fixed. Disa fixed
support, with another hook or clamp to hold the other end of the
fibre. F is alever with a long and short arm, the long arm pass-
ing over the scale G. H is the table or support, and E isa vessel
into which water drawn from A is received. When using the ap-
paratus it is nearly filled with water, and the fibre to be tested is
properly secured to the fastenings on B and D, then drawn taut.
‘Water is now allowed to flow slowly from C until the fibre breaks.
The quantity of water drawn off is ascertained, and from it
the strain put upon the fibre calculated. The indications of the
long arm of the lever are also noted in order to show the stretch,

52 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

and also to give the elements for a correction to be made upon the
quantity of water drawn off.

Stops and guides, not shown in the sketch, serve to keep the
floating cylinder off the sides of the vessel, and prevent it falling
too far upon the rupture of the fibre.

AIC AA

ial

The principle upon which the apparatus works is so simple that
it hardly requires explanation. At the beginning of the operation
the weight of the tube is wholly supported by the water ; by draw-
ing off the water the support is very gently removed and the weight
thrown upon the fibre. The relation between the actual weight
put upon the fibre and the weight of water drawn off will vary
for every different dimension of the containing vessel and floating
cylinder, but in regularly shaped vessels it will always be in the
direct ratio of the sectional areas of the floating vessel, and the
difference between this and the sectional area of the containing
vessel, z. e. in cylindrical vessels the sectional area of the ring of
water surrounding the floating cylinder.

In the apparatus brought down for illustration and actually in

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 53

use by the writer, there were three floating cylinders, whose sec-
tional areas bore the following ratios to the ring of water by
measurement :

MS GB URGRE? 2,502.5. . ddan vineans th erapanes Te 0925
eae CP IRMOT VTE. |. 642.4. 2. 1s Soensiging eruanes 1 =..20°610
OT SER WG mete ey Ce eee ee a 1: 492°6

In actually testing, by means of a chemical balance, the relation
between the weights of water drawn off and the weights put upon
a fibre, the following numbers were found :—

Large cylinder... 0°926 gr. water = 1 gr. strain.
Medium cylinder 21°09 gr. ,, = 1 gr. BS
Smaller cylinder 476:10 gr. ,, = 1 gr. p?

The large discrepancy in the case of the smaller cylinder is owing
to the difficulty of measuring it correctly ; its sectional area was
computed to be 0:001989 inch.

This apparatus has several advantages: the strain is put on in
the most gradual manner, without jerks or shocks; it can be put
on at any rate per minute or hour, and there is hardly any assign-
able limits to either its power or delicacy. By the smaller float-
ing cylinder a strain of 0-0002 grain can be measured, and by in-
ereasing the size of the apparatus a strain of a hundred tons could
be put on with the most perfect gradation. .

Mr. O’Neill also read a paper, entitled ‘‘ Experiments and
Observations upon Cotton.”

(1) The author began to make experiments upon the chemis-
try of cotton-dyeing, but found himself compelled to abandon ex-
periments upon manufactured cotton, and to come down to the
primary fibre or hairs of cotton.

(2) He has made very numerous experiments upon seventeen
samples of cotton supplied to him from reliable sources, and com-
pared their physical and chemical properties.

(3) He has given about 400 experiments upon the length of
cotton-hairs, measured separately by a simple process, which he
fully described, and exhibited a diagram upon an enlarged scale,
showing the mean, maximum, and mivimum lengths of the seven-
teen qualities of cotton experimented upon. The table below isa
résumé of the experiments, but the author furnishes it in this ab-
stract with the caution; that, taken apart from the detailed
measurements as given in the full paper, it may give rise to incor-
rect conclusions.

Longest Mean Shortest

NAME. Price. Date. Fibre. Length. ‘Fibre.

In. in. In.
Sea Island Edisto ............... 96d. ...Dec., 1860...2°00...... 680.275: 135
Ben TSANG... sis. car e.c cress dives 54d. ...Mar., 1863...1°95...... 1501s. 1:10
Queensland Cotton ............ 180s. a2 PARTS; 1:20
EOD yas calsecacvocnccter + sbGdi97; Dees, 1860, :.2°05) 7.0 1:444......1°10
0 SS SS 9id: to: 94d. Wo. ESD pee 0:95

Deyptian (fair) ...ccscscssses. 22d. ...Mar., 1863...1°50,.....1°185,,,.,.0°85

1

54 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Longest Mean Shortest
NAME. Price. Date. Fibre. Length. Fibre.
in. in, in,

PUPEARGIN oer tise cis ess cacconsts 1:40). wal 1230 ssa 095
GMMEMA, eases scaiveccrsssecencs BO cet TUT svaake 0°85
PernamiDUeld ii. .6vecrsissevoes 93d....Mar., 1863...1°50.....: L675. 0%
Vicon TTI 3 510% chloe ow sinserzsesivorsven 8id....Dec., 1860...1°35...... ise yeahs 0:85
MUG TEER 5.0 di sions aa'tmpnisnn 67d....Dec.,; 1860...1°20...... 1085.;.... 0°75
DORIS ooh ons'm sg on Poa de Maat 74d....Dec,, 1860,..1:26.. 50, L002... eae 0-70
ol sas. ih hah st Lei Reale epee « shel G’d....Dec., 1860,..1°20...... 09925 ...0°80
Orleans (good middling) ...... Q94d....Mar., 1863...1°15...... Oss 0°85
Surat (fair Dhollerah) ......... 173d.,..Mar., 1863...1°15..... 0:9425 ...075
Surat (Dhollerah) ...........s00+ 54d..,.Dec., 1860...1:10,..... 0925... 0°55
Surat (middling Comptah) ...15d. .,.Mar., 1868...1°05...... 0-905 cane 0-70

(5) The author has determined the tensile strengths of the
hairs of the various qualities of cotton by means of the apparatus
described in the previous abstract, and has given, in a series of
tables, the breaking weights in grain of every hair tested, with re-
marks upon them. ‘The following table gives the mean and maxi-
mum strengths of the hairs; but, like the preceding table, it
ought not to be taken apart from the detailed tables, where the
particulars of the breaking of about twenty hairs of each kind of
cotton are given :

Mean. “Maximum

Grains. Grains.
Edisto Sea Islandi{n haw bs avis 83°9' 57, aw 142°5
Sea Island (good quality) ...............005 90°07, avant 132°0
Benquella 255 par weslias devant scngazaener ite LOO'G :cséicols tak 218°8
Sea Island Oottionsivsyacinvns ovhiane ys ats ts BORG ce aan 203°0
TG Ss Aa cal- in se cpirnin Soins cesabehs taen siete oe 104: b pana 212°6
ued iaik I RONERADY” to canscni@ccasposina LOSS cate 215°5
Miaranhiall «5.53 crcsdscsus vaveveaghegnanstocees LOLs gece 187°2
Hieyagerant (fal ees ass rene bane aoe ves LOSS"; canes 157-9
Wee Seria cic rome ee cag at Codadheetoaatse Lisa eee 172°3
papain 2250431 hace Ak tiversetacdes 1a?°2 Aras 191:0
OT ee Eee ROSE es Meer piste aS) ayia 289-4
MMIVOULO!. 55509 ithe sede ake nb sto tea oie 1402 scx. hie 2511
Bara CDbollerdh) .: ...5 a8 ws rovanatonnsy 148 site 236°6
Maranham (good middling) .............5. 42D oss seus 242°4
SS SSE EC a eae Pe Sasi am: 1476 accavem 24.6°2
Orleans (good middling) ,..,.....0s.+++50 A peice, (oe 264-0
Surat (middling Comptah) ...,.......008 bh iy pares 280°2

West Brienron Microscopican CLus. |
November 23rd, 1863.
Dr, Wint1am Apprsoy, F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

Members and visitors present :—Drs. Halifax, Kebbell, Dawson,
Humby, Pearce, Cobbold (of the Middlesex Hospital), and
Messrs. Oldham, Murray, Malden, and Hennah (Honorary
Secretary of the Society),

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 55

Mr. J. Jardine Murray, F'.R.C.S.E., called the attention of the
meeting to the importance of the subject of human and animal
parasites, and adverted especially to the particular viscera in
which the Entozoa were most frequently found. He said, that
our knowledge of their structure and development could only be
extended by microscopic research, combined with the adoption of
the experimental method of breeding worms, which was several
years ago introduced by Dr. Kuchenmeister. He had enjoyed
an opportunity of witnessing the results of some of these ex-
periments during his residence at Edinburgh. He also alluded
to the employment of micro-photography, and pomted to the
illustrations (by Dr. Halifax) on the table, as affording admirable
portraits of some of the most remarkable characters presented
by the Cestoda. He congratulated the club on the variety and
value of the specimens collected together for inspection that
eyening, and proposed that they should endeavour, if possible,
to verity the existence of nerve-fibres in the Nematoda. In this
view, he had, with the assistance of his friend Dr. Cobbold, that
afternoon removed some fresh living examples of Ascaris mystax
from a cat, and he had also procured a large number of active
Nematodes (belonging tu the genus Ophiostoma) from the
stomachs of two dog-fishes. In conclusion, he requested Dr.
Cobbold to offer a few words of explanation respecting the
various microscopic preparations, specimens of Entozoa preserved
either in spirit or in carbolic-acid solutions, and also as regards
the original illustrations which he had been so good as to contri-
bute that evening.

Dr. Cobbold, F.1.S., reverted to the pleasure and profit he had
derived from attendance at the meetings of the club on previous
occasions, and proceeded to give a general account of the most
recent discoveries in entozoology, many of which were illustrated
by the specimens he had brought with him, and more particu-
larly by that portion of them which had been presented to him
by Professor Leuckart, of Giessen. Amongst the microscopic
preparations there were also several interesting specimens for
which he was severally indebted to the kindness of Dr. Weinland
(of Frankfort), Mr. Lubbock, F.R.8., Dr. McIntosh (of Perth),
Mr. Hulke, F.R.C.S., Dr. Lankester, F.R.S8., and to Mr. Murray.

“The question as to the existence of a true nervous system in
Nematoda,’’ he remarked, “was one which could not be said to
be decided, notwithstanding the very positive statements of cer-
tain recent observers, including Mr. Bastian. ‘The various
memoirs of Dr. Anton Schneider—an abstract of one of which
was recently given by Mr. Busk, in the ‘Quart. Jour. Micro.
Science,’ No. XI, N.S., p. 197—might at first appear quite con-
clusive, and in favour of the existence both of a peripheral and
a central nerve-system; but, on the other hand, we found an ex-
cellent observer, Dr. C. J. Eberth, of Wirzburg, who is probably
equally well acquainted with the cellular and filamentary tissues
represented to be true nerve-structures, altogether at variance

56 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

with Schneider, and expressing his sincerest doubts as to whether
these so-called nerves and ganglia-cells had anything whatever
to do with a genuine nervous system (see his ‘ Untersuchungen
iiber Nematoden,’ s. 10). The large granular cells observed by
Max Schultze in the neighbourhood of the cesophagus in Enoplus,
and the more marked structures described by Leuckart, as a
central nerve-system in Zrichocephalus hominis and Trichina
spiralis, were not, in Eberth’s opinion, true nervous elements.”
For his own part, he must admit that he had all along regarded
the lateral lines of Nematoda as representing a peripheral nerve-
system; but it could not be denied that the histological elements
were very different from those ordinarily presented by the nerve-
cords and ganglia of animals higher in the scale of organization.

The following parasites were then exhibited by Dr. Cobbold:

Sexually mature human parasites.— Fasciola hepatica ; Distoma
lanceolatum; D. heterophyes; Bilharzie hematobia; Ascaris
lumbricoides; A. mystax; Trichocephalus dispar; Trichina
spiralis; Oxyuris vermicularis ; Tenia solium; T. medio-canellata;
T. marginata; T. echinococcus; T. nana; TP. elliptica; Bothrio-
cephalus latus ; and B. cordatus.

Larval human entozoa.—Cysticercus cellulose; meazle of 7.
medio-canellata; Cyst. tenuicoilis; hydatids and scolices of 2.
echinococcus ; embryos of Lrichina; young of Dracunculus ; and
embryos of Oxyuwris ; and also the so-called Pentastoma denticula-
tum, which is not strictly referable to the class of helminths.

Adult animal parasites—Distoma varicum ; D. compactum ; D.
constrictum; D. clavigerum; D. coronariwm; D. Bosew ; Tricho-
cephalus affinis; Spherularia bombi; Ascaris megalocephali; A.oscu-
lata ; A. capsularia ; A. retusa; Trichosoma longicolle ; Strongylus
paradoxus; Echinorhynchus proteus; E. porrigens ; E. anthuris ;
Tenia pusilla; TL. cueumerina; T. uncinata; T. cenurus ; T. far-
ciminalis ; T. serrata; Diphyllobothrium stemmacephalum ; and of
the acarine genus Pentastoma, P. tenioides and P. multicinctum.

Larval forms.—Cysticercus fasciolaris ; C. pisiformis ; C. talpe;
Cenurus cerebralis; scolex of Tetrarhynchus reptans, and of
another species; and various Echinococci. -

The Hon. Sec., Mr. Hennah, also exhibited a male Strongylus
(probably 8. spiculatus) from the common goose; and Dr. Daw-
son showed specimens of Echinococcus heads taken from an
hydatid in the human orbit.

The living Nematodes procured by Mr. Murray were carefully
examined, but the members were not satisfied that the microscopic
appearances, presented within the lateral canals, were referable to
true nervous elements.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the president expressed, on
behalf of himself and the members, his thanks to Dr. Cobbold
for the loan of the above-mentioned specimens, selected from his
cabinet, and also for the explanations he had so efficiently given.

ey

> fo

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 57

SouTHAMPTON MicroscorrcaL Socrery.

The annual sozrée of this association was held at the Hartley
Institution on Tuesday evening, Dec. Lith. There were about six
hundred ladies and gentlemen present, by invitation from the
committee of management. The arrangements were such as met
the approbation of all present. Dr. Joseph Bullar, the President,
delivered the annual address as follows :

Ladies and Gentlemen,—Another year has passed since we

met, and I have now the honour to express, on behalf of the
Southampton Microscopical Society, the pleasure they feel at
seeing you again at their annual soirée. Meetings such as this
indicate the increasing taste among the public for natural science,
and the endeavour of those who cultivate science as the very
business of their lives to make the knowledge they acquire and the
facts they discover the common property of all. Everything
conspires to aid an increasing activity of mind—a rational curiosity
in this direction. Steam has become as great a power in the dif-
fusion of science, as in locomotion and manufactures. Men of
creative minds—the discoverers of new truths, are, and ever will
be, the few; but the discoveries of these few are now diffused
with a rapidity and to an extent amongst all highly civilised
peoples hitherto unknown and unimagined. In a few days the
new fact, the result, it may be, of years of solitary research and
thought, becomes known to every man of science in Europe. Not
only the debates and contests of the politician, the victories or
defeats of war, or the triumphs of the social reformer, are circulated
with the same certainty as the return of day and night; but the
news of the contests of science with the hidden secrets of nature,
of her triumphal discoveries, and of her application of these
newly discovered laws to the beneficial uses of mankind, is diffused
with the same sureness and celerity, and by the same means—
the press and the steam engine. In addition to scientific papers
and magazines, and reports and books, copiously illustrated by
drawings, engravings, woodcuts, and plans—and scientific instru-
ments described and measured and figured with perfect accuracy—
the instruments themselves are immediately constructed by the
first mathematicians of the day, so that any one can purchase
them. The new fact may thus be immediately examined and
proved by the exact copies of the apparatus or instrument of the
original discoverer. A Greek philosopher said there was the same
difference between one instructed and one uninstructed as between
the living and the dead; and this generation, which is

“The Heir of all the Ages, in the foremost files of Time,”

shows by its valuing and taking advantage of the new objects so
freely offered to its intellect, that it isa living and not a dead or

58 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

decaying race. Microscopic study is one of the youngest branches
of the great tree of science. It is only within ten or fifteen
years that microscopes have been brought to high perfection.
Men of science, versed deeply and accurately in the laws of light,
working together with those of consummate mechanical know-
ledge and skill, have constructed microscopes combining the two
chief requisites (high magnifying power with great clearness), and
the large sale of these instruments is the best proof of the in-
creasing interest taken in these pursuits. Three of the principal
makers of microscopes in London sold last year 600 microscopes,
and 100 of these were of the highest class of instruments. One
of these houses alone sold 860 object-glasses (these are the mag-
nifying glasses only) of high powers. The demand, too, for
mounted objects is proportionate to the demand for instruments
—so great is it that it is with difficulty kept up with. And this
increase is in spite of the entire stoppage of any supply to
America, owing to her civil war. A large number of these micro-
scopes are supplied to the medical profession, for to us it has
become indispensable in distinguishing with greater accuracy and
certainty many diseases ; but its increased use amongst naturalists
is seen by their publications. A. ‘Microscopical Quarterly
Journal,’ numerous original papers in the transactions of all our
great scientific societies—for there is no branch of natural, and
few of physical, science which does not need and employ this
instrument—the microscopical societies in the great towns, and
the many manuals containing condensed accounts systematicall

arranged of all recent discoveries, as well as older facts, testify
to the great and increasing interest in this science. We have
said there is no branch of natural science, and few of physical,
which does not need and employ the microscope, and the objects
you will see this evening, and which are a few only out of the
vast supply, will give some idea of the extent of its field of re-
search. The vegetable kingdom is illustrated from the simplest
structures up to the most complex; from cells up to fiowers,
leaves, pollen, and wood. The animal kingdom is represented by
specimens of bone, horn, hair, muscles, ligament, lungs, brain,
which form the various organs of man and the higher animals,
and which show the form of the materials of which their bodies
are composed ; whilst the insect tribes, which, from the complexity
and delicacy of their structure, and their smallness of size, make
some of the best microscopic objects, are shown either as whole
insects or as parts. The eyes, the claws, the wings, the proboscis,
the tongue, the breathing apparatus, of numerous species—many
of the small and complete insects, and parasites living and dying
on other insects and animals—supply objects of high interest.
Lower in the animal scale, and at that point where animal meets
vegetable life, so that it is difficult to decide which is animal and
which is vegetable, are the various specimens of the tribes of the
Diatomacee, Foraminifere, and Polycistine, whose finely marked
shells of flint are objects delicate and very elegant. The geologist

io Coa,

er ee ae

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES, 59

scrutinises with the microscope the fossilised animals and plants
which lived in bygone ages, as well as the rocks and soils which
form our earth, and you can see here sections of coal, of granite,
of sandstone, agate, and other minerals. The chemist determines
the exact shape of his crystals, and these form objects of much
beauty, especially when seen by coloured light by the polari-
scope, which instrument will be carefully described to you.
Amongst the striking preparations are various parts of the tissues
of man and animals which are injected ; that is to say, the blood-
vessels and other tubes are filled with carmine, and thus ren-
dered very evident. Thus infinitely small parts of the skin of the
cheek, tongue, lip, nose, eye of man—of the brain of the rabbit
—the lung of the sheep, are thus injected. “ Beauty is” (said
to be) “only skin deep.’ Our microscopes tell a different story.
The texture of the surface of the skin to which, according to this
proverb, beauty alone is confined, will bear the minutest scrutiny
of our highest magnifying powers. It may be magnified 3000
diameters ; that is to say, if, by any possibility, a whole human
face could be seen in a microscope, that face would be as
large as 3000 faces; or to put it in another way, if this hall,
when filled, would contain 1500 people, one face would be as
large as twice the number of faces in this completely filled room,
and yet every particle of the outer skin magnified in this pro-
portion retains the same finish—and not only this, but the
smallest vessels which supply its life by red blood, and the red
globules of these ruddy streams which give the skin its colour,
its freshness, and its bloom, the nerves which give it feeling, the
oil-glands and their tubes which keep it smooth, the mass of
fibres which give it firmness, are each and all organized with
the same elaborate contrivance, joined with the same perfection
of delicacy. You might think there was no beauty in a common
slug, but examine its mouth and tongue, as you will have an
opportunity this evening, and especially by the light of the
polariscope, and the arrangement of its teeth, which are num-
bered by thousands and are inconceivably small, gives the im-
pression of the texture of some rare and costly fabric of ladies’
dress. Indeed, not even the costliest lace or silk which the
delicate fingers of Brussels or Honiton construct, or the looms
of Norwich and Lyons supply, will bear such close investigation—
the workmanship is human, not divine; man’s, not nature’s.
The silk or the thread as it is nature’s work has her perfection ;
but the forms, the arrangements, are by man, and fine as they
may be, they are coarse to the lenses. In the snail’s mouth, in
the green scum of stagnant ponds, in the dust of old hills, on
the shores and depths of ocean, are to be found more exquisite
patterns than the artistic maker of furniture, of ornaments, or
of dress, could conceive, much less execute. It may be thought
rather pedantic in an assembly like this, consisting of so large a
number of ladies, to expect that many will feel much interest in

60 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

the scientific aspect of our pursuits. But there is this other
view which commends itself both to their taste and their prac-
tice, for they are all students, and very earnest students too, of
the beautiful. For what is the attention given to the ceaseless
changes and varieties of dress, to the choice and harmony of
its colours, to the selection of ornaments, to the internal decora-
tions of rooms and of houses, to the shapes and textures and
hues of furniture, to the arrangements of flowers and of gardens,
but the application of the mind-powers to this branch _of
knowledge ? . What is taste but the appreciation of the beautiful,
and the power of realising it? The true way towards the reali-
sation of the beautiful in art of all sorts, including the decorative
arts, must be through the close study and exact following of

nature; and as the arts of design advance, it must happen that -

these exquisite patterns of nature which microscopes unfold will
give to students their best examples ; and asall ladies are more or
less artists in design, there are good hopes that in the scientific
future of our race, the microscope may be habitually employed by
the fair students of domestic decorative arts when devising new
patterns for their fingers to execute. The painter’s eye in all the
more extended scenes of nature—in the greater and smaller groups
of natural objects—sees and appreciates the beautiful or the pic-
turesque ; and the student of the microscope, examining with his
powerful lenses the smallest particle of their greater masses which
the artist fixes in colours, discovers at every step lower and lower—
deeper and deeperas he is enabled to descend towards the invisible

—that there is the same consummate fitness and perfect beauty. |

‘What the poet sings of suns and moons and planets and stars,
when gazing up at those worlds of light, can be said when looking
downwards at those smallest created things, even into what may
be superficially considered as the refuse and waste of creation, that
by their silent beauty they are for ever telling “The Hand that
made us is Divine.’ In thanking the Hartley Council on behalf
of our society for the kind way in which they immediately granted
our application for the use of this building this eyening, may I
allude to a proposal which will be submitted to the microscopical
society at their next meeting, that a class be formed in which the
use of the microscope would be explained and taught and practi-
cally illustrated by one or more of the members; and if so, the
permission of the council would again be asked to hold the classes
here. This would show, especially to ladies, who are apt to over-
rate the difficulties in the attainment of science, that there are
fewer difficulties than they imagine in the attaining dexterity in
the use of the microscope and in mounting the various objects,
and that there is no branch of science which is more within reach.
A thorough good microscope, fit for all such purposes, can now be
obtained for five guineas, and the objects for examination can be
found everywhere—in every leaf, in every flower, in the pond, in
the tank, the sea-side stones, in eyery living object, in every

> J =
ee

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 61

created thing. And slips of glass and cement are all that are
needed to preserve them; and the objects themselves are so neat,
so clean, so small, that they may be viewed, prepared, and mounted
in any room. Most of the objects which you will see this evening
have been procured from the scientific instrument maker, Mr.
Wheeler, and they have all been prepared and mounted by himself
and the other members of his own family, his sons and his daughters.
In a highly civilised state of society, where a constantly increasing
number of the educated have that leisure which wealth supplies,
there are many who, even to save themselves from ennui, require
some intellectual pursuit, and who may find an agreeable and
increasingly agreeable occupation in the microscopy of nature;
whilst the busy may find in the same study that change of object
which is often the only possible relaxation to minds inured to
constant mental activity.

Dr. Bullar was warmly applauded at the conclusion of his
address. The company then adjourned to the various rooms, in
search of entertainment, which met them on every hand. The
library, reading room, and some of the class rooms, were con-
verted into scenes for the exhibition of the wonders revealed by
the microscope and polariscope, a number of which, about forty,
were placed upon tables, and attended by the following gentle-
men :—Professor Aitken; Drs. Sims, Aldridge, De Chaumont,
Osborne, Trend, Norcott, Scott, Lake, Maul, Summers, Eddowes,
Broster, and Watson; Messrs. Sampson, Tovey, Randall, Keele,
Le Feuvre, Murray, Jennings, Shorto, Buchan, Brunke, and
Wheeler. Mr. Lucas, sculptor, entertained amazingly a party at
the table allotted to him. He exhibited some curiosities, inclu-
ding a series of photographs illustrative of phases in his own life,
some of which elicited a vast amount of merriment. Dr. Maul
exhibited a series of illuminated stereoscopic views. He also
showed the effect of the polarization of light. A collection of
photographs and drawings adorned the walls and tables. Alto-
gether was passed one of the pleasantest evenings it is possible to
conceive. ‘he entertainers acted under a full determination to do
their best in their various departments, and the result was a
perfect and gratifying success.

About fifty microscopes were employed by the various mem-
bers, so that in the course of the evening the large party had
ample opportunities of seeing the objects. ,

Dr. Maddox, who lives in the neighbourhood, exhibited and
explained many of his exquisite photographs. He is the first who
has adopted stereoscopic photography to microscopic purposes, in
order to show what are elevations and what depressions. Some
diatoms exhibited this excellently.

Mr. Hill, of Basingstoke, brought a very complete set of British
lichens.

Dr. Langstaff explained by diagrams the theory of the polari-
zation of light.

62 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

The soirée was attended by the professors of the Army Medical
School at Netley; and Dr. Aitken, the Professor of Pathology,
gave much assistance by lending both microscopes and objects
Lee his microscopic class room, which is the most complete in

urope.

The general arrangements for the evening were made by Mr.
Keele, the Vice-President, Dr. Langstaff, Dr. Aldridge, and Dr.
Sims, and gave great satisfaction to all.

REVIEW.

Lectures on the Elements of Comparative Anatomy. By
Tuomas Henry Huxizny. London: Churchill & Sons.

Tuis work consists substantially of the lectures delivered
by Professor Huxley in the spring of 1863, at the Royal
College of Surgeons of England, in discharge of his duties as
Hurterian Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology
to the College. Although this work may be regarded as
fragmentary, consisting, as it does in the first place, of six
lectures on the Classification of Animals, and eight lectures
on the Vertebrate Skull, the author hopes eventually to
bring out subsequently other courses of lectures, and thus to
produce a systematic work on Comparative Anatomy. Those
who have in any manner regarded the publications of Pro-
fessor Huxley, will be glad of the prospect of having pre-
sented to them a systematic view of the opinions held by one
who has distinguished himself by his contributions to almost
every department of zoological and physiological inquiry.
Professor Huxley says, with regard to this work, that in
intention therefore the present work is the first of a series,
to be followed in due order by a second volume on “ Man
and the other Primates,’ and a third on the remaining
Mammalia, and so on. As far as the inquiries with the
microscope are concerned, we must content ourselves with
drawing attention to those parts of the present volume which
are devoted to the classification of animals. We cannot pre-

VOL. IV.— NEW SER. pn *

64 HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION.

tend to follow Professor Huxley into those details which lead
him to differ with Professor Owen with regard to the theo-
retical structure of the vertebrate skull. We can only say,
with regard to this second part of his work, that it will
afford to all students of comparative anatomy, an example of
how great is the power of analysis demanded of, and how wide
are the inquiries of, the philosophical anatomist. It is only in
a very subsidiary way that the minute inquiries of the micro-
scopist can assist the anatomical philosopher in arriving at
the general laws which regulate the morphology of the higher
classes of the animal kingdom.

It is in the lower forms of animal life that the zoologist
must’ have recourse to the microscope. Whole families and
tribes of every division of Invertebrate animals can alone be
detected by the aid of the microscope, and it is by its aid
alone that the comparative anatomist and zoologist have
been enabled to group the various species into something
like harmonious relationship. It would be almost impossible
for us to criticise the various positions taken by Professor
Huxley with regard to the classification of the lower animals. .
He has recast the groups formerly known so well as the
Radiata, of Cuvier, and which embraced so large a field
of inquiries open to the microscopist, and we take advan-
tage of the permission of the publishers to reproduce the first
lecture of this series entire.

THE GREGARINIDA, RHIZOPODA, SPONGIDA, AND
INFUSORIA.

By the classification of any series of objects, is meant the actual,
or ideal, arrangement together of those which are like and the
separation of those which are unlike; the purpose of this arrange-
ment being to facilitate the operations of the mind in clearly
conceiving and retaining in the memory, the characters of the
objects in question.

Thus, there may be as many classifications of any series of natural,
or of other, bodies, as they have properties or relations to one
another, or to other things; or, again, as there are modes in which
they may be regarded by the mind: so that, with respect to such
classification as we are here concerned with, it might be more proper

HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION. 65

to speak of a classification than of the classification of the animal
kingdom,

The preparations in the galleries of the Museum of this College
are arranged upon the basis laid down by John Hunter, whose
original collection was intended to illustrate the modifications which
the great physiological apparatuses undergo in the animal series:
the classification which he adopted is a classification by organs, and,
as such, it is admirably adapted to the needs of the comparative
physiologist. ;

But the student of the geographical distribution of animals,
regarding animated creatures, not as diverse modifications of the
great physiological mechanism, but in relation to one another, to
plants and to telluric conditions, would, with equal propriety, dispose
of the contents of a Zoological Museum in a totally different manner ;
basing his classification, not upon organs, but on distributional
assemblages. And the pure palxontologist, looking at life from yet
another distinct point of view, would associate animal remains
together on neither of these principles, but would group them accor-
ding to the order of their succession in Time.

Again, that classification which I propose to discuss in the present
Lectures, is different from all of these: it is meant to subserve the
comprehension and recollection of the facts of animal structure; and,
as such, it is based upon purely structural considerations, and may
be designated a Morphological Classification. I shall have to consider
animals, not as physiological apparatuses merely ; not as related to
other forms of life and to climatal conditions; not as successive
tenants of the earth; but as fabrics, each of which is built upon a
certain plan.

It is possible and conceivable that every animal should have been
constructed upon a plan of its own, having no resemblance whatsoever
to the plan of any other animal. For any reason we can discover to
the contrary, that combination of natural forces which we term Life
might have resulted from, or been manifested by, a series of infinitely
diverse structures: nor, indeed, would anything in the nature of the
case lead us to suspect a community of organization between animals
so different in habit and in appearance as a porpoise and a gazelle,
an eagle and a crocodile, or a butterfly and a lobster. Had animals
been thus independently organized, each working out its life by a
mechanism peculiar to itself, such a classification as that which is
now under contemplation would obviously be impossible; a morpho-
logical, or structural, classification plainly implying morphological,
or structural, resemblances in the things classified.

As a matter of fact, however, no such mutual independence of
animal forms exists in nature. On the contrary, the different. mem:

66 HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION.

bers of the animal kingdom, from the highest to the lowest, are
marvellously interconnected. Every animal has a something in
common with all its fellows; much, with many of them; more, with
afew; and, usually, so much with several, that it differs but little
from them.

Now, a morphological classification is a statement of these grada-
tions of likeness which are observable in animal structures, and its
objects and uses are manifold. In the first place, it strives to throw
our knowledge of the facts which underlie, and are the cause of, the
similarities discerned into the fewest possible general propositions—
subordinated to one another, according to their greater or less degree
of generality ; and in this way it answers the purpose of a memoria
technica, without which the mind would be incompetent to grasp and
retain the multifarious details of anatomical science.

But there is a second and even more important aspect of morpho-
logical classification. Every group in that classification is such in
virtue of certain structural characters, which are not only common
to the members of that group, but distinguish it from all others ; and
the statement of these constitutes the definition of the group.

Thus, among animals with vertebre, the class Mammalia is de-
finable as those which have two occipital condyles, with a well-ossified
basi-occipital; which have each ramus of the mandible composed of
a single piece of bone and articulated with the squamosal element of
the skull; and which possess mamme and non-nucleated red blood-
corpuscles.

But this statement of the characters of the class Mammalia is
something more than an arbitrary definition. It does not merely
mean that naturalists agree to call such and such animals Mammalia ;
but it expresses, firstly, a generalization based upon, and constantly
verified by, very wide experience; and, secondly, a belief arising out
of that generalization. The generalization is that, in nature, the
structures mentioned are always found associated together: the
belief is, that they always have been, and always will be, found so
associated. In other words, the definition of the class Mammalia is
a statement of a law of correlation, or coexistence, of animal struc-
tures, from which the most important conclusions are deducible.

For example: if a fragmentary fossil be discovered, consisting of
no more than a ramus of a mandible and that part of the skull with
which it articulated, a knowledge of this law may enable the palzon-
tologist to affirm, with great confidence, that the animal of which it
formed a part suckled its young and had non-nucleated red blood-
corpuscles; and to predict that should the back part of that skull be
discovered, it will exhibit two occipital condyles and a well-ossified
basi-occipital bone.

ee ee eT

HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION, 67

Deductions of this kind, such as that made by Cuvier in the famous
case of the fossil opossum of Montmartre, have often been verified,
and are well calculated to impress the vulgar imagination; so that
they have taken rank as the triumphs of the anatomist. But it
should carefully be borne in mind, that, like all merely empirical laws,
which rest upon a comparatively narrow observational basis, for
reasoning from them may at any time break down. If Cuvier, the
example, had had to do with a fossil Thylacinus instead of a fossil
Opossum, he would not have found the marsupial bones, though the
inflected angle of the jaw would have been obvious enough. And so,
though, practically, any one who met with a characteristically
mammalian jaw would be justified in expecting to find the character-
istically mammalian occiput associated with it; yet, he would be a
bold man indeed, who should strictly assert the belief which is im-
plied in this expectation, viz. that at no period of the world’s history
did animals exist which combined a mammalian occiput with a
reptilian jaw, or vice versd.

Not that it is to be supposed that the correlations of structure ex-
pressed by these empirical laws are in any sense accidental, or other
than links in the general chain of causes and effects. Doubtless
there is some very good reason why the characteristic occiput of a
Mammal should be found in association with mamme and non-
nucleated blood-corpuscles ; but it is one thing to admit the causal
connection of these phenomena with one another, or with some third ;
and another thing to affirm that we have any knowledge of that
causal connection, or that physiological science, in its present state,
furnishes us with any means of reasoning from the one to the
other.

Cuvier, the more servile of whose imitators are fond of citing his
mistaken doctrines as to the nature of the methods of paleontology
against the conclusions of logic and of common sense, has put this so
strongly that I cannot refrain from quoting his words.*

“ But I doubt if any one would have divined, if untaught by ob-
servation, that all ruminants have the foot cleft, and that they alone
have it. I doubt if any one would have divined that there are frontal
horns only in this class: that those among them which have shar
canines for the most part lack horns.

“« However, since these relations are constant, they must have some
sufficient cause: but since we are ignorant of it, we must make good
the defect of the theory by means of observation: it enables us to
establish empirical laws, which become almost as certain as rational

* “Ossemens fossiles,’ ed. 4™*, tome 1", p. 164,

68 HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION.

laws when they rest on sufficiently repeated observations; so that
now, whoso sees merely the print of a cleft foot may conclude that
the animal which left this impression ruminated, and this conclusion
is as certain as any other in physicsor morals. This footprint alone,
then, yields to him who observes it, the form of the teeth, the form of
the jaws, the form of the vertebre, the form of all the bones of the
legs, of the thighs, of the shoulders, and of the pelvis of the animal
which has passed by: it is a surer mark than all those of Zadig.”

Morphological classification, then, acquires its highest importance
as a statement of the empirical laws of the correlation of structures;
and its value is in proportion to the precision and the comprehensive-
ness with which those laws, the definitions of the groups adopted in
the classification, are stated. So that, in attempting to arrive at
clear notions concerning classification, the first point is to ascertain
whether any, and if so, what groups of animals can be established,
the members of which shall be at once united together and separated
from those of all other groups, by well-defined structural characters.
And it will be most convenient to commence the inquiry with groups
of that order which are commonly called CuAssEs, and which are
enumerated in an order and arrangement, the purpose of which will
appear more fully by and by, in the following table.

HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION. 69

TABLE OF THE CLASSES OF THE ANIMAL
KINGDOM.

The Limits of the Four Cuvierian Sub-Kingdoms are indicated by the
Brackets and Dotted Line.

RADIATA,
Gregarinida. Infusoria. Scolecida (?). ;
* Rhizopoda (?). Echinodermata.
ee Magi [ein
: Amnelida. )
Hydrozoa. Crustacea.
Actinozou. Arachnida. SEOICHEARA
Myriapoda.
: Polyzoa. i Insecta.
Brachiopoda. 7
Ascidioida.
Pisces.

Lamelli branchiata, Amphibia. |

Moruvusca. Reptilia. VERTEBRATA,
Branchiogasteropoda. Aves.
Pulmogasteropoda. Mammalia.
Pteropoda. |

Cephalopoda,

70 HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION.

It is not necessary for my purpose that the groups which are
named on the preceding table should be absolutely and precisely
equivalent one to another; it is sufficient that the sum of them is the
whole of the Animal Kingdom, and that each of them embraces one
of the principal types, or plans of modification, of animal form; so
that, if we have a precise knowledge of that which constitutes the
typical structure of each of these groups, we shall have, so far, an
exhaustive knowledge of the Animal Kingdom.

I shall endeavour, then, to define—or, where definition is not yet
possible, to describe a typical example of—these various groups.
Subsequently, I shall take up some of those further classificatory
questions which are open to discussion; inquiring how far we can
group these classes into larger assemblages, with definite and constant
characters; and, on the other hand, how far the existing subdivisions
of the classes are well based or otherwise. But the essential matter,
in the first place, is to be quite clear about the different classes, and
to have a distinct knowledge of all the sharply-definable modifica-
tions of animal structure which are discernible in the animal king-
dom.

The first class of which I shall speak is the group of. the Gruea-
RINIDA. These are among the simplest animal forms of which we
have any knowledge. They are the inhabitants of the bodies for the
most part of invertebrate, but also of vertebrate, animals; and they
are commonly to be found in abundance in the alimentary canal of
the common cockroach, and in earth-worms, They are all micro-
scopic, and any one of them, leaving minor modifications aside, may
be said to consist of a sac, composed of a more or less structureless,
not very well-defined membrane, containing a soft semi-fluid sub-
stance, in the midst, or at one end, of which lies a delicate vesicle;
in the centre of the latter is a more solid particle. (Fig. 1, A.) No
doubt many persons will be struck with the close resemblance of the
structure of this body to that which is possessed by an ovum. You
might take the more solid particle to be the representative of the
germinal spot, and the vesicle to be that of the germinal vesicle ;
while the semi-fluid sarcodic contents might be regarded as the yelk,
and the outer membrane as the vitelline membrane. I do not wish
to strain the analogy too far, but it is, at any rate, interesting to ob-
serve this close morphological resemblance between one of the lowest
of animals and that form in which all the higher animals commence
their existence. It is a very remarkable characteristic of this group,
that there is no separation of the body into distinct layers, or into
cellular elements. The Gregarinida are devoid of mouths and of
digestive apparatus, living entirely by imbibition of the juices of the
animal in whose intestine, or body cavity, they are contained. The

HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION. (gt

most conspicuous of those phenomena, which we ordinarily regard as
signs of life, which they exhibit, is a certain contraction aud expan-
sion along different diameters, the body slowly narrowing, and then
lengthening, in various directions. Under certain circumstances
(though the conditions of the change are not thoroughly understood),
it is observed that one of these Gregarinida, whatever its form may
be, will convert itself into a well-rounded sac, the outer membrane
ceasing to exhibit any longer those movements of which I spoke,

Fig. 1. A, Gregarina of the earthworm (after Lieberkuhn); B, encysted;
C, D, with the contents divided into pseudo-navicelle; E, F, free pseudo-
navicelle; G, H, free amcebiform contents of the latter.

and becoming coated by a structureless investment, or “cyst”
(Fig. 1, B).

The substance of the body contained within the cyst next under-
goes a singular change. The central nucleus and the vesicle disap-
pear; after a time, the mass breaks up into a series of rounded
portions and, then, each of these rounded portions elongates, and,

“VOL. IV.—NEW SER. aga

72 HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION.

becoming slightly pointed at each end, constitutes a little body
which has been called a “‘ Pseudo-navicella,” from its resemblance to
the Diatomaceous Navicula or Navicella (Fig. 1, C, D). Next, the
capsule bursts and the Pseudo-navicelle (Fig. 1, E, F) are scattered
and passed out of the body of the animal which they inhabit.
Though, of course, a great number of them are destroyed, some, at
any rate, are devoured by other animals; and, when that is the case,
the little particle of protein substance which is inclosed within the
Pseudo-navicella is set free from its shell, and exhibits much more
lively movements than before, thrusting out processes in various
directions, and drawing them in again, and, in fact, closely resem-
bling one of those animalcules which have been called Amebe (Fig.
1, H). The young Amebiform Gregarina grows, increases in size,
and at length assumes the structure which it had at first. That, in
substance, is all that we know of this lowest division of animal life.
But it will be observed, there is a hiatus in our knowledge. We
cannot say that we know the whole nature and mode of existence of
this, or any other animal, until we have traced it to its sexual state;
but, at present, we know nothing whatever of this condition among
the Gregarine ; so that in reasoning about them we must always
exercise a certain reticence, not knowing how far we may have to
modify our opinions by the discovery of the sexual state hereafter.

The process of becoming encysted, preceded or accompanied very
often by the mutual apposition of two Gregarine, was formerly
imagined to correspond with what is termed among plants “ conjuga-
tion,”’—a process which in some cases, at any rate, appears to be of
a sexual nature. But the discovery that a single Gregarina may be-
come encysted and break up into Pseudo-navicelle seems to negative
this analogy.

But now, leaving this, I pass on to the next class—that which is
indicated in the table asthe Ruizopopa. Ihave puta query against
it, as I shall have to return to it as another of those respecting which
our knowledge is incomplete. And at this moment I merely direct
attention to the salient and characteristic features of the whole
group (Fig. 2).

It seems difficult to imagine a stage of organization lower than that
of Gregarinida, and yet many of the Rhizopoda are stillsimpler. Nor
is there any group of the animal kingdom which more admirably
illustrates a very well-founded doctrine, and one which was often
advocated by Hunter himself, that life is the cause and not the con-
sequence of organization; for, in these lowest forms of animal life,
there is absolutely nothing worthy of the name of organization to be
discovered by the microscopist, though assisted by the beautiful in-
struments that are now constructed. In the substance of many of

HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION. 73

these creatures, nothing is to be discerned but a mass of jelly, which
might be represented by a little particle of thin glue. Not that it
corresponds with the latter in composition, but it has that texture
and sort of aspect; it is structureless and organless, and without
definitely formed parts. Nevertheless, it possesses all the essential
properties and characters of vitality ; it is produced from a body like
itself; it is capable of assimilating nourishment, and of exerting
movements. Nay, more, it can produce a shell; a structure, in
many cases, of extraordinary complexity and most singular beauty
(Fig. 2, D).

That this particle of jelly is capable of combining physical forces
in such a manner as to give rise to those exquisite and almost mathe-
matically-arranged structures—heing itself structureless and without
permanent distinction or separation of parts—is, to my mind, a fact
of the profoundest significance.

Though a Rhizopod is not permanently organized, however, it can
hardly be said to be devoid of organs; for the name of the group is
derived from the power which these animals possess of throwing out
processes of their substance, which are called “ pseudopodia,” and
are sometimes very slender and of great length (Fig. 2, E), sometimes
broad and lobe-like (Fig. 2, A). These processes may flow into one
another, so as to form a network, and they may, commonly, be thrust
out from any part of the body and retracted into it again.

If you watch one of these animals alive, you see it thrusting out,
first one and then another of its pseudopodia, exhibiting changes of
form comparable to those which the colourless corpuscles of the
human blood present. The movements of these Rhizopods are quite
of the same character, only they are much more extensive and effect
locomotion. The creature also feeds itself by means of its pseudo-
podia, which attach themselves to nutritive particles, and then draw
them into the substance of the body. There is neither ingestive nor
egestive aperture, neither special motor nor prehensile organs, but
the pseudopodia perform each function as it may be required.

But here, again, we labour under an imperfection of knowledge.
For, although it is quite certain that the Rhizopoda may multiply by
division of their substance—in a way somewhat analogous to that
which I detailed when speaking of the Gregarinida—yet, as in that
case, we have no knowledge of any true sexual process. It is a most
remarkable circumstance that though these animals are abundant,
and are constantly under observation, we are still in doubt upon that
essential point,—still uncertain whether there may not be some phase
in the cycle of vital phenomena of the Rhizopoda with which we are
unacquainted ; and, under these circumstances, a perfect definition of
the class cannot even be attempted.

74 HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION.

The next division is the group of the Spone1pA, which exist under
such multitudinous forms in both salt and fresh waters. Up to the

last few years we were in the same case, with respect to this class, as

with the Gregarinida and the Rhizopoda. Some zoologists even have

been anxious to relegate the sponges to the vegetable kingdom ; but.

Fie. 2.

Fig. 2. A, B, free and encysted conditions of an Amaba (after Auerbach) ;

E, a Foraminifer (Rotalia) with extended pseudopodia; D, its shell in ~

section (after Schulze).

the botanists, who understood their business, refused to have any-
thing to do with the intruders. And the botanists were quite right ;

for the discoveries of late years have not left the slightest doubt that
the sponges are animal organisms, and animal organisms, too, of a
very considerable amount of complexity, if we may regard as com-

eS ee

.

HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION, 75

plex a structure which results from the building up and massing
together of a number of similar parts.

The great majority of the sponges form a skeleton, which is com-
posed of fibres of a horny texture, strengthened by needles, or
spicula, of silicious, or of calcareous, matter; and this framework is
so connected together as to form a kind of fibrous skeleton. This,
however, is not the essential part of the animal, which is to be sought
in that gelatinous substance, which invests the fibres of the skeleton
during life, and is traversed by canals which open upon the surface
of the sponge, directly or indirectly, by many minute, and fewer
large, apertures.

If I may reduce a sponge to its simplest expression—taking the
common Spongilla, for example, of our fresh waters,—the structure—
removing all complexities, and not troubling ourselves with the
skeleton, because that has nothing to do with what we are now
considering—may be represented by the diagram (A, Fig. 3). There
is a thin superficial layer (a) formed entirely of a number of the
so-called sponge particles, or ultimate components of the living
substance of the sponge, each of which is similar to an Ameba, and
contains a nucleus. These are all conjoined in a single layer, so as
to form a continuous lamellar membrane, which constitutes the outer
and superficial layer of the body. Beneath this is a wide cavity,
communicating with the exterior by means of minute holes in the
superficial layer (b), and, of course, filled with water. The cavity
separates the superficial layer of the sponge from its deeper substance,
which is of the same character as the superficial layer, being made
up of a number of aggregated sponge particles, each of which has a
nucleus and is competent to throw out numerous pseudopodial pro-
longations if detached. While the living sponge is contained in water,
a great number of currents of water set in to the wide cavity beneath
a, a, through the minute apertures (b), which have thence been
termed “inhalent.” ~

In the floor of the cavity, there are a number of apertures which
lead into the canals ramifying in the deep layer, and eventually
ending in the floors of certain comparatively lofty funnels or craters.
The top of each of these presents one of those larger and less numerous
apertures, which have been referred to as existing on the surface of the
sponge, and which are fitly termed “exhalent” apertures. For, as
Dr. Grant discovered, many years ago, strong, though minute,
currents of water are constantly flowing out of these large apertures ;
being fed by the currents which as constantly set in, by the small
apertures and through the superficial cavity, into the canals of the
deeper substance. The cause of this very singular system of currents,
remained for a long time unknown. It was rendered intelligible by

76 HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION.

‘ wie t

Fig. 3. A, Hypothetical section of a Spongilla ; a, superficial layer ; 4, inhalent
apertures; ¢, ciliated chambers; @, an exhalent aperture; ¢, deeper sub-
stance of the sponge. The arrows indicate the direction of the currents. -

_.. B, a small sponge with a single exhalent..aperture, seen from above (after
‘ Lieberkiihn) ; @, inhalent apertures; ¢, ciliated ‘chambers ; d, exhalent
. ‘aperture. (;, a ciliated chamber ; D, a free-swiifiming ciliated embryo.

HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION. 77

Dr. Bowerbank’s discovery of the existence of vibratile cilia in the
genus Grantia, but it is only quite recently that the precise nature of
the arrangement of the apparatus which gives rise to these currents
in ordinary sponges, has been made out by Lieberkiihn and by
Carter. The canals which enter the deep substance of the sponge
become dilated mto spheroidal chambers, lined with sponge particles
(Fig. 3, A, ec, C), each of which is provided with a vibratile cilium ;
and as all these cilia work in one direction—towards the crater—they
sweep the water out in that direction, and its place is taken by fresh
water, which flows in through the small apertures, and through the
superficial chamber. The currents of water carry along such matters
as are suspended in them, and these are appropriated by the sponge
particles lining the passages, in just the same way as any one of the
Rhiziopoda appropriates the particles of food it!finds in the water
about itself. So that we must not compare this system of apertures
and canals toso many mouths and intestines; but the sponge repre-
sents a kind of subaqueous city, where the people are arranged about
the streets and roads, in such a manner, that each can easily
appropriate his food from the water as it passes along.

In the sponges two reproductive processes are known to occur: the
one of them asexual, corresponding with the encysting process of the
Gregarinida; and the other, truly sexual, and answering to the
congress of the male and female elements in the higher animals. In
the common fresh-water Spongilla, towards the autumn, the deeper
layer of the sponge becomes full of exceedingly small bodies, some-
times called “seeds” or “ gemmules,” which are spheroidal, and have,
at one point, an opening. Every one of these bags—in the walls of
which are arranged a great number of very singular spicula, each
resembling two toothed wheels joined by an axle—is, in point of fact,
a mass of sponge particles which has set itself apart—gone into
winter quarters, so to speak—and becoming quite quiescent, encysts
itself and remains still. The whole Spongilla lies down, and the
seeds, inclosed in their case, remain uninjured through the winter.
When the spring arrives, the encysted masses within the “seed,”
stimulated by the altered temperature of the water, creep out of their
nests, and straightway grow up into Spongilla like that from which
they proceeded.

But there is, in addition, a true sexual process, which goes on
during the summer months. Individual sponge particles become
quiescent, and take on the character of ova; while, in other parts,
particular sponge particles fill with granules, the latter eventually
becoming converted into spermatozoa.

These sacs burst and some of the spermatozoa, coming into contact
with the ova, impregnate them. The ova develop and grow into

78 HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION,

ciliated germs (D, fig. 3), which make their way out, and, after
swimming about for a while, settle themselves down and grow up into
Spongilla.

Now that we know the whole cycle of the life of the sponges, and
the characters which may be demonstrated to be common to the
whole of this important and remarkable class, I do not think any
one who is acquainted with the organization or the functions of
plants, will be inclined to admit that the Spongida have the slightest
real affinity with any division of the vegetable kingdom.

The next group to be considered is the division of the INFUSORIA ;
and here, again, within the last few years, prodigious strides have
been made in our knowledge of the subject. Although the Infusoria
have been favorite studies for many years, still it is only quite
recently that the cycle of life of these animals has been made almost
completely known, and that we have become acquainted with the
true sexual process as it occurs in them

The different species of the genus Paramecium are very common
among the microscopic inhabitants of our fresh waters, swimming
about by means of the vibratile cilia with which the whole surface of
their bodies is covered; and the structure which essentially charac-
terises these animals is probably that which is common to the whole
of the Infusoria, so that an account of the leading structural features
of Paramecium is, in effect, a definition of those of the group.

Imagine a delicate, slipper-shaped body inclosed within a structure-
less membrane, or cuticula, which is formed as an excretion upon its
outer surface. At one point (Fig. 4, B a) the body exhibits a slight
depression, leading into a sort of little funnel (b c) coated by a con-
tinuation of the same cuticular investment, which stops short at the
bottom of the funnel. The whole of the bag formed by the cuticula
is lined by a soft layer of gelatinous matter, or “sarcode,” which is
called the “ cortical” layer (Fig. 4, A a); while inside that, and
passing into it quite gradually, there being no sharp line of demarca-
tion between the two, is a semi-fluid substance, which occupies the
whole of the central region of the body. Neither in the cuticle, the
cortical layer, nor the central substance, has any anatomist yet dis-
covered a differentiation into cellular layers, nor any trace of that
histological composition which we meet with in the tissues of the
higher animals; so that here is another case of complex vital phe-
nomena proceeding from a substance which, in a histological sense,
is structureless.

At two points of the body (Fig. 4, A ec) the substance of the
cortical layer exhibits a remarkable power of contraction and dilata-
tion. If you watch one of those points, the sarcode suddenly seems
to open like a window and, for a while, a clear space is visible, which

= ae a

HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION. 79

then, quite suddenly, shuts again. After a little time the same
diastole and systole are repeated. As the systole takes place, it is
possible, occasionally, to discern certain radiating canals, which
extend from the cavities into the surrounding sarcode, and disappear
again before diastole occurs. There is no doubt that the clear space
is a chamber filled with fluid in the cortical layer, and since good
observers maintain that there is an aperture of communication,
through the cuticula, between the ‘ contractile chamber’ and the ex-

Fie. 4.

Wi

od

iW

Fig. 4. Paramecium bursaria (after Stein). A, the animal viewed from the
dorsal side; @, cortical layer of the body; 4, ‘‘nucleus;” c¢, contractile
chamber; d, d’, matters taken in as food; e, chlorophyll granules,

B, the animal viewed from the ventral side; a, depression leading to 4,
mouth; ¢, gullet; d, “‘nucleus;” d@ “nucleolus;” ¢, central sarcode. In
both these figures the arrows indicate the direction of the circulation of the
sarcode.

C, Paramecium dividing transversely; a, a’, contractile spaces; 4, J’,
“nucleus” dividing; ¢, c’, ‘‘nucleoli.’’

terior, this fluid can be little more than water. Perhaps the whole
should be regarded as a respiratory or secretory mechanism : in one
shape or another, it is eminently characteristic of the Infusoria.
Besides this singular apparatus, there lies embedded in another part
of the cortical layer a solid mass, of an elongated oval shape (Fig. 4,
A B d), which has been called the “nucleus,” though it must be
carefully distinguished from the “nucleus” of a cell. Upon one side

80 HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION.

of this, and, as it were, stuck on to it, is a little rounded body (Fig. 4,
B d’), which has received the name of the “nucleolus.” The animal
swims about, driven by the vibration of its cilia, and whatever nutri-
ment may be floating in the water is appropriated by means of the
current which is caused to set continually into the short gullet by
the cilia which line that tube.

But it is a singular circumstance that these animals have an alli-
mentary canal consisting of a mere gullet, open at the bottom, and
leading into no stomach or intestine, but opening directly into the
soft central mass of sarcode. The nutritious matters passing down
the gullet, and then into the central more fluid substance, become
surrounded by spheroids of clear liquid (Fig. 4, A d), consisting ap-
parently of the water swallowed with them, so that a well-fed Para-
mecium exhibits a number of cavities, each containing a little mass
of nutritious particles. Hence formerly arose the notion that these
animals possess a number of stomachs. It was not unnaturally
imagined that each of the cavities in question was a distinct stomach ;
but it has since been discovered that the outer layer of the sarcode
is by means of some unknown mechanism, kept in a state of constant
rotation; so that the supposed stomachs may be seen to undergo a
regular circulation up one side of the body and down the other. And
this circumstance, if there were no other arguments on the same
side, is sufficient to negative the supposition that the food-containing
spaces are stomachs; for it is impossible to imagine any kind of
anatomical arrangement which shall permit true dilatations of an
alimentary canal to rotate in any such manner. Fecal matters are
extruded from an anus, which is situated not far from the mouth, but
is invisible when not in use. It is an interesting and important
character of the Infusoria, in general, that, under some circum-
stances, they become quiescent and throw out a structureless cyst
around their bodies. The Infusoriwm then not unfrequently divides
and subdivides, and, the cyst bursting, gives rise to a number of
separate Infusoria.

The remarkable powers of multiplication by fission and gemma-
tion which many of the group exhibit are well known; but within the
last few years the investigations of Miller, Balbiani, Stein, and
others, have shown that these minute creatures possess a true process
of sexual multiplication, and that the sexual organs are those which
have been denominated “ nucleus” and “nucleolus.” The nucleus is
the true ovary—the nucleolus, the testis, in Parameciwm. At par-
ticular times, the latter increases very much in size, and its substance
is broken up into rod-like bodies, which represent spermatozoa. Two
Infusoria, in this condition, become conjoined, and the nucleolus
(now converted into a spermatic capsule) of each passes into the

HUXLEY, ON CLASSIFICATION. 81

body of the other. The spermatic filaments are said to enter the
nucleus, which then enlarges, and either divides into, or gives off, a
number of rounded germs, which become oval ciliated bodies pro-
vided with long processes. These make their way out of the body,
and, it is believed, are metamorphosed directly into young Para-
meecia. But, perhaps, further information is required before we can
be quite certain on this point.

The subsequent lectures in this volume are devoted to
the Molluscous, Annulose, and Vertebrate series of animals.
They are treated in the same lucid and original manner as
the lower groups of animals to which the above lecture
relates. We can recommend these lectures to the study of
all young students of natural history who are desirous of
taking a comprehensive view of the structure and relations of
the animal kingdom. In the second and third lectures,
will be found numerous observations on the forms of the
molluscous and annulose animals, which will clearly show that
it is only by the aid of the microscope that a proper study of
the animal kingdom can be undertaken. These lectures by
Professor Huxley are copiously illustrated, and as a work
by one of the most advanced students of the science of biology,
it cannot fail to be interesting not only to those engaged in
anatomical and physiological studies, but to all who take an
interest in the observation of the structure and functions
of the animal kingdom.

sth
aS
{co
dione
iat ie

.

ce eR
ae ae
ee
+
sed
oe hz cab
) ace rds

¢

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

Rerort of the Microscorrs exhibited at the INTERNATIONAL
Exursition, 1862.

In a former number, Vol. IT, n.s., p. 197, shortly after the
close of the Exhibition, we offered a few remarks on the mi-
croscopes contained in it; and we are now glad to have an
opportunity of giving the able and full report upon them
which has but just appeared in the series of “ Jurors’ Re.
ports,” from the able pen of Mv. C. Brookes, F.R.S.

Microscorms AND Acorssory APPARATUS.

The recent Exhibition, like its predecessor in 1851, has been
very complete in its display of microscopes, accessory apparatus,
and objects. For a briet history of the development of the micro-
scope, the reader is referred to the Report of 1851, p. 265; it may
suffice on the present occasion to say that since 1851 considerable
improvements have been effected both in the optical and mechani-
cal departments of this important instrument, the employment of
which, whether for purposes of mere recreation or of scientific re-
search, has been so largely developed within a few years.

As regards optical construction, a considerable accession of
available power has been effected; some very deep powers have
been constructed by continental artists, most of these being de-
signed to be used with the intervention of a fluid medium between
the external surface of the objective and the covering glass of the
object, amongst which those of M. Hartnack are most conspi-
cuous; but no objective yet manufactured for sale at all rivals, in
its power of development, the =1,th of Messrs. Powell and Lea-
land. These able artists have likewise been very successful in the
construction of the deepest previously acknowledged powers,
namely, those of jth and ;!;th inch focus; in these objectives
excessive angular aperture has been judiciously sacrificed to more
comprehensive and practical utility.

In flatness of field, and in perfection of definition, both at the
centre and margin of the field of view, few objectives have equalled,
and none have surpassed, the recent constructions of Mr. Ross,

VOL. IV.—NEW SER. G

84 BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES AT THE EXHIBITION.

who appears to have inherited his late father’s well-known apti-
tude in adapting mechanical contrivance to optical requirement.
In available angle of aperture considerable advances have been
made by several of the leading artists; but as it is palpable that
much misconception exists with regard to available angle of aper-
ture, the reporter abstains from quoting stated angles. This fact
may easily be shown; supposing the focal point to be at a dis-
tance of 0°01 inch from the surface of the objective (which for most
glasses is a very moderate assumption), a reference to a table of
natural tangents will show that an angular aperture of 17° will ne-
cessitate a linear aperture of 0°22 inch; an aperture of 172° will
require 0°28 inch, and one of 174°, 0°38 inch, in order to admit the
extreme rays, which for objectives of 4th inch focus is manifestly
impossible, and @ fortiori for those of still shorter focus. It may
here be remarked that an admirable method of determining the
availbleangle of aperture of an objective was suggested to the jury by
Professor Govin, of Turin, which consisted in placing the microscope
perpendicular to any plane dark non-reflecting surface (as a table
covered with green cloth), and haying converted the instrument
into a telescope, by placing above the eye-piece a suitable combi-
nation of two lenses (such as the “ examining-glass” of Mr. Ross),
and then examining and marking the greatest lateral distance on
either side at which a clear image of some distinct object, such as
a narrow strip of white card-board or paper laid on the table, can
be perceived. Half the distance between these two points,
divided by the vertical distance of the focal point of the objective
from the surface of the table, will, by reference to a table of
natural tangents, give half the required angle of aperture. ‘This
will in many cases be found to be considerably less than what may
be termed the angle of admission of diffused light.

In regard to angle of aperture, it may be desirable here to state
that large angle of aperture is necessarily incompatible with that
far more generally useful quality of a good objective, penetration.

Penetrating power is synonymous with depth of focus; that is,
extreme distance of two planes, the points of which are at the same
time sufficiently in focus for the purpose of distinct vision. This
distance will manifestly increase as the angle of aperture
diminishes, just as in a landscape camera the fore and back grounds
can be brought into sensible focus simultaneously only by the use
of a small diaphragm, which greatly diminishes the angular aper-
ture of the incident pencils. But at the same time it must be
borne in mind that illumination, ceteris paribus, increases or
diminishes with angle of aperture, and the best working glass will
be that in which the best compromise is effected between these
two conflicting requisites. For all practical purposes, except de-
veloping the markings of diatoms, an objective of moderate aper-
ture will be found most available. It may reasonably be doubted
whether the development of the dottings of difficult diatoms is not
an object rather of curiosity than of utility, and whether it is
worth the labour that has been bestowed upon the production of

BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES AT THE EXHIBITION. 85

glasses for that especial purpose ; the labour of construction being
immensely augmented by the difficulty of duly balancing the aber-
rations of the more oblique pencils. So much is this the case,
that in the best constructed objectives of the largest angles, the
visual effect is sensibly impaired when the rays are transmittod
through any other thickness of covering-glass than that for which
they have been specially corrected.

The introduction of the binocular arrangement of Mr. Wenham
has created quite a new era in the history of the microscope.
This ingenious contrivance consists in intercepting one half of
the pencil emerging from the object-glass by a prism placed im-
mediately above it, the transverse section of which is a trapezium,
of such form that the transmitted half-pencil is made to form the
usual visual angle with the undisturbed half; the surfaces of in-
cidence and emergence are both perpendicular to the respective
directions of the rays, which suffer two internal reflections in pass-
ing through the prism.

A binocular arrangement was some years since constructed by
M. Nachet, of Paris, which has been considerably improved in the in-
struments recently exhibited by him ; and another was exhibited by
Mr. Dancer, of Manchester, which closely resembles a plan pre-
viously designed and abandoned by Mr. Wenham. In both of
these the pencil is bisected by the double prism, and the two halves
diverge equally in opposite directions. As, however, the pencils of
rays can hardly be expected to pass through a prism without some
sensible disturbance, and as it well known that the superposition of
two equally perfect images is not essential for the production of
a satisfactory binocular effect, it seems most probable that a better
result will be obtained by the construction of Mr. Wenham than
by either of the others; and it has this further advantage, that by
simply withdrawing the prism, which is imtroduced in a small
sliding frame, the microscope is at once reduced to its original mo-
nocular form.

Several new modifications of illuminating apparatus have been
introduced in this country since 1851; the principal of these are
a condenser of very large angular aperture, by Messrs. Powell and
Lealand, in which every requisite modification of the illuminating
pencil may be produced by two revolving discs, one containing
apertures of various sizes, and the other various diaphragms for
excluding the central portion, or for admitting only angular por-
tions, of the pencil of light. These dises are placed immediately
below the posterior lens of the illuminator. This method of modi-
fying the illuminating pencil was first applied in Gillett’s con-
denser, as constfucted by Mr. Ross, by whom this ‘latter
apparatus has recently been modified for the purpose of affording
a more efficient illumination for medium powers. A hemispheri-
cal condenser has been produced by the Rev. J. B. Reade, which
answers remarkably well for the purpose for which it was devised,
namely, the development of the markings of diatoms. The plane
surface of the hemisphere is placed upwards, and is covered by a dia-

86 BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES AT THE EXHIBITION.

phragm inwhicharemarginal apertures, capable of adjustmenteither
to an interval of 90° with each other, when the arrangement of
the dots to be developed is quadrangular, as in WV. rhomboides, or
P. hippocampus ; or to one of 60° and 120°, when they are arranged
in equilateral triangles, as in P. angulatum, &c. An ingenious
plan of illuminating by reflected light minute objects, mounted in
Canada balsam, has been devised by Mr. Wenham; this consists
of a small truncated glass paraboloid, which is temporarily
attached to the under side of the slide containing the object, by a
little gum, oil, or fluid Canada balsam. The rays internally reflected
from the convex surface of the paraboloid, and impinging very ob-
liquely on the under surface of the slide, are transmitted in con-
sequence of the fluid uniting medium, and are then internally
reflected from the upper surface of the covering glass on to the
object. Very minute variations of surface contour may by these
means be rendered evident.

Considerable improvements in the brass-work have been
recently effected; in the first-class instruments of Mr. Ross, and
of Messrs. Powell and Lealand, the rotating stages are most con-
veniently arranged. It must be borne in mind that the solidity and
weight of material necessary to entirely obviate tremor, when high
powers are used, is incompatible with portability. On this ac-
count more portable forms of stand have been constructed
by most of the principal makers ; a stand made by Mr. Ladd has
been considered to combine lightness and portability with as much
rigidity as is compatible with the weight of material employed.

Most praiseworthy endeavours have been made by many ex-
hibitors to produce an efficient instrument at a price compatible
with the means of students and others, to whom a first-class in-
strument is unattainable.

By the aid of an extensive plant of machinery, Messrs. Smith,
Beck, and Beck, have succeeded in producing a complete and
efficient binocular microscope, at the price that is commonly
charged by the first makers for merely rendering a first-class in-
strument binocular. They have also constructed a still cheaper
form of instrument, combining great steadiness with fair optical
efficiency. Mr. Highley and Mr. Pillischer have also greatly dis-
tinguished themselves in this department. Very cheap forms of
compound microscope are exhibited by Mr. Field, who obtained the
Society of Arts’ prize some years since, but who does not appear
to have in any respect improved his model; and others by Mr.
Parkes, the cheapest of all, but at the same time it must be
added, the least efficient optically ; whether the quality is as good
as can be procured at the price is a question which none but the
manufacturer can determine.

There is a very creditable display of preparations, both British
and foreign; but it is to be regretted that one, who has for many
years been considered the first British preparer, has contributed
nothing to this Exhibition. The German objects prepared by
imbibition and transparent injection, imported and exhibited by

BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES AT THE EXHIBITION. 87

Messrs. Smith, Beck, and Beck, are extremely beautiful and in-
structive.

The works of individual exhibitors, in the British and Foreign
departments respectively, will now be briefly noticed.

British Haehibitors.

C. Baxer, H.M. (United Kingdom, 2853), exhibits a creditable
collection of well-constructed microscopes, the prices of which
are moderate. The stands are after Mr. Ross’s model. The
objectives are of very fair quality for general purposes; some of
the low powers are very good. His students’ microscopes are
well and economically constructed.

Professor Brann, M. (United Kingdom, 2855), has devised and
exhibited an exceedingly simple and convenient form of micro-
scope, for the purposes of clinical instruction and of class demon-
stration. Over the body of the microscope, which is of small
dimensions, a tube is fitted with a bell-shaped mouth at the end.
This tube slides freely over the body, but is capable of being
fixed at will, by means of a clamping-screw. The slide contain-
ing the object is placed across the bell-mouth, and held there by
a spring pressing against the back of it, and is thus maintained
perpendicular to the axis of the instrument. When the focus is
adjusted, the clamping-screw is fixed, and the fine adjustment
necessary for the differences of vision in different individuals
is effected by drawing out or pressing in the eye-piece. The
object and object-glass are thus protected from mutual injury, an
accident of by no means unfrequent occurrence in careless or
unpractised hands. In this form the instrument is adapted to
the clinical examination of secretions, &c., and must be directed
by the hand towards day or artificial light. For demonstration
to a class, this instrument is attached horizontally to a small
wooden stand by means of a clamp, supported by two legs. To
the stand a small oil lamp is likewise attached; and a stem pro-
ceeding from the lower edge of the bell-mouth carries any desired
form of condensing or illuminating apparatus. This stand is
capable of being freely handed round a large class, without the
focus becoming at all deranged, even when a very deep objective
is employed. Professor Beale also exhibits, attached to micro-
scopes of this form, some very beautiful preparations, illustrative
of a fact discovered by himself, which has a very important phy-
siological bearing—namely, that if small portions of tissue are,
immediately after the extinction of life, immersed in an alkaline
solution of carmine, those elements in which growth or develop-
ment was actually in progress at a time immediately preceding
the cessation of vitality, become permanently stained by the
colouring matter; while from the “ formed material,” as he terms
it, comprising those portions of tissue in which the development
is complete, the colour may be subsequently washed out. This
evidently affords a most important means of investigating the

88 BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES AT THE EXHIBITION.

processes concerned in the growth and development of the various
tissues of which animal frame is composed. Some preparations
are also exhibited illustrating the preservative effect of a weak
aqueous solution of wood-naphtha and creasote.

J. H. Datimeyrr, M. (United Kingdom, 2888), exhibits
microscopes constructed after the model of his late father-in-law,
Mr. A. Ross, whose talents were long so successfully directed to
the improvement of the microscope. These are, as might be
expected, first-class instruments; but in their construction, Mr,
Dallmeyer’s artistic power has not experienced as successful a
development as in his astronomical telescopes previously men-
tioned.

J.B. Dancer, Manchester, M. (United Kingdom, 2889), exhibits
a patented form of binocular microscope, in which the two pencils
pass symmetrically through an achromatized double prism, As
previously stated, it is very questionable whether any contrivance
for the symmetrical divergence of the pencils by means of refract-
ing prisms is desirable. In this the light is a good deal reduced
by the narrowness of the rectangular aperture through which the
pencil is transmitted. Mr. Dancer’s reputation for the successful
production of microscopic photographs is well known, and fully
sustained by those exhibited. A group of four well-defined por-
traits of eminent persons is so small that the width of each con-
taining oval is one fiftieth of an inch.

P. Fritru & Co., Sheffield (United Kingdom, 2899), exhibit
some well-made microscopes, at moderate prices, for the amount
of workmanship expended on them. Their optical properties are,
however, hardly equivalent to the soundness of their mechanical
construction.

S. Hieutry, M. (United Kingdom, 2912), exhibits some very
commendable forms of microscope for students and general use,
at a very moderate price. Among these are the late lamented
Professor Quekett’s dissecting microscope, neatly packed wp as a
pocket companion; and Professor Beale’s admirable instrument
for the lecture-room, at the moderate price of £3 3s.

Horxe & Toorytuwaire, M. (United Kingdom, 2916), exhibit
a full-sized and well-finished microscope, the only noticeable
peculiarity of which is that there is a small amount of tilting or
rocking motion communicable to the stage, by means of which an
object, not mounted parallel to the surface of the slide, may be
brought to coincide with the plane of vision. They exhibit also
an aplanatic eye-piece; this is not really so great a desideratum
as might be supposed, inasmuch as the best-constructed objec-
tives are usually a little over-corrected, to compensate for the
chromatic aberration of the ordinary Huyghenian eye-piece.

W. Lapp, M. (United Kingdom, 2925), exhibits microscopes of
considerable merit. The instruments of Mr. Ladd have been
long and favorably known to microscopists for the substitution
of a chain-movement for the ordinary rack and pinion, whereby
great smoothness of motion is attained, together with the entire

BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES AT THE EXHIBITION. 89

absence of “loss of time.’’ This is applied both to the coarse
adjustment, for raising or lowering the body of the instrument,
and to the rectangular movements of the stage. The adjustment
of the secondary stage is of a very simple and effective kind; the
stage consists of three brass plates superposed on each other, the
lower one being attached to the body of the instrument, and the
upper one to the tube which carries the illuminator. The middle
plate is connected with the external ones by two pins distant 90

from each other, and each moved upon the other by a rack and
pinion. Mr. Ladd has also a very neatly arranged magnetic stage.
‘Two small magnetic bars are inserted in the stage-plate, and a
gilt iron bar placed across these adheres in any position in which
it is placed, and supports the object. The quality of the objec-
tives is good, but not first-rate. The lightness and portability of
the stand have already been alluded to.

J. Parkes & Son, Birmingham, H. M. (United Kingdom,
2943), emphatically state that their aim has been to produce con-
venient, well-proportioned instruments, at the lowest possible price,
and no doubt this object has been successfully carried out, as
their simplest forms of compound microscopes are extremely cheap,
the lowest cost being only 10s. 6d.; these may be the means of
introducing a healthy and inyiting pursuit amongst large classes
to whom more eflicient instruments would be obviously unattain-
able. This firm has boldly attempted to develop a new point of
union between art and science, in the production of a large
“Fine Art” microscope. As taste,is ‘proverbially not amenable
to any known law, it is hoped that this “work of art” may not
remain unappreciated; but an irresistible conviction arises that
the body of a microscope mounted on the back of a dolphin, or a
griffin, or anything of that sort,is an incongruous and uncom-
mendable monstrosity.

M. Pruxiscurr, M. (United Kingdom, 2945), exhibits a con-
siderable variety of microscopes, some of which may fairly claim
the denomination of first-class instruments; and the advance of
his recent exhibit from that of 1851 evinces much persevering
industry. His brass-work is very good; it is generally on the
“ Ross”? model, except that a little curvature is given to the out-
line of the vertical supports. The optical work is good, but has
not yet reached the highest standard of excellence. The object
in his collection which was considered most entitled to commen-
dation, was a very compact student’s microscope in a neat ma-
hogany case. The objective consisted in a triple achromatic com-
bination ; the first, composed of three lenses, made a good objec-
tive of one-inch focus. The addition of the second, a correcting
combination of two lenses, gave an indifferent half-inch objective ;
but the addition of the third combination constituted a very
effective glass of quarter-inch focus; and the price of the whole,
namely £5, does not exceed that of a quarter-inch objective alone,
by either of the first makers.

Powztt & Luanann, M. (United Kingdom, 2946). The exhibit

90 BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES IN THE EXHIBITION.

of this old-established and much respected firm was of very limited
extent, but at the same time of first-rate excellence. The form
of stand now generally adopted by them is a tripod, combining
steadiness and stability with comparative lightness: as the stability
of the instrument here depends on breadth of base in place of
weight of foot. The object-stage has a concentric circular motion,
in addition to the usual rectangular movements. The rectangular
movement-plates are made extremely thin, and are raised by a
kind of flat pillar from the rotating ring, for the purpose of
allowing rays of the utmost obliquity to be thrown upon the
object by an Amici prism. The sharply accurate definmg power
of their objectives has scarcely been exceeded, and not often
equalled, especially in those of most difficult execution, the 34th
and 51th; but their greatest triumph is in the production of a
perfectly defining objective of th or s;th-inch focus, working
very satisfactorily through a covering-glass of 0:035 to 0°004-inch
thickness. Nor is it to be supposed that this immense magnifying
power, ranging as it does from about 1700 to upwards of 3000
diameters, that is, in round numbers, from three to ten millions in
area, is a mere philosophical curiosity ; we cannot doubt that the
wonders of creative beneficence will be developed in proportion
to our extended means of investigation; and the writer can fully
testify to having repeatedly seen, under one of these objectives,
evidences of structure that are, under ordinary powers, utterly
indistinguishable. This firm also exhibits a compact form of
portable microscope, in which the three legs of the tripod fold
together; and a very convenient form of illuminating apparatus,
which has been already alluded to. They have not devoted their
attention to the manufacture of anything but first-class instru-
ments.

The Rev. J. B. Reapz, Hilesborough, H. M. (United Kingdom,
2948), exhibits a hemispherical condenser, which has been found
to possess remarkable powers in developing the markings of
diatoms, with objectives that were unable to accomplish the same
with any previously known simple means of illumination. The
construction of this apparatus has already been sufficiently de-
scribed.

T. Ross, M. (United Kingdom, 2952), exhibits a remarkably
fine collection of first-class instruments and apparatus, for every
kind of microscopical investigation. These instruments differ
in quality, and correspondingly in price, only in relation to the
completeness of their mechanical arrangements, the workmanship
of all being equally good, so far as it extends. The optical parts
of all are alike, both ocular and objective, none of a second or
inferior quality bemg manufactured. The stage arrangements
are most perfect ; the thin traversing plates of the object-stage
are attached to a rotating ring, believed to be of such diameter as
to admit to the under surface of the object any oblique illumina-
tion that can possibly be required. ‘This form of stage was
generally admitted to be the best in the Exhibition. The secon-

BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES IN THE EXHIBITION. 91

dary stage for the adaptation of all varieties of illuminating and
polarizing apparatus is readily mounted and dismounted, and
possesses vertical and rectangular horizontal adjustments, as well
as circular motion, the rings both in this and the upper stage
being graduated.

Of the objectives it is difficult to say too much; the correction,
and consequent defining power of all is excellent, and in the
medium powers especially the flatness of the field and the accu-
racy of definition over its entire surface are most remarkable ;
the low powers (meaning objectives of one-inch or longer focus)
are by no means excluded from this category ; but in these, good
results in this direction have been long since obtained, and, more-
over, the attainment is comparatively easy.

In addition to the usual forms, a Kelner’s achromatic eye-piece
is exhibited, by which the usual area of the field of view is
doubled, but not, it is thought, without a considerable sacrifice
of definition. This differs from the ordinary Huyghenian eye-
piece in having a double convex field-glass and an achromatic
meniscus eye-glass.

Of illuminating apparatus, Mr. Ross exhibits a modification of
his well-known Gillett’s condenser, specially adapted for the lower
powers; and in addition to all other established forms, we find
the hemispherical condenser above mentioned, now commonly
known as “ Reade’s kettle-drum.’’ Darker’s selenite plates are
here very conveniently adapted to the polarizing apparatus.
Amongst a great variety of useful accessory apparatus, a new
form of compressor is exhibited, in which, by means of a short
vertical slide, the upper plate of thin glass is moved parallel to
the plane of the instrument.

Smitu, Brox, & Brox, M. (United Kingdom, 2964), present a
copious display of microscopes of various capabilities. One of
their large first-class instruments is rendered very portable, by
making the legs to fold up; the stage also is removable; it is
packed in a comparatively small flat case, replete with every con-
ceivable accessory apparatus.

The first-class instruments by this firm have long been duly
appreciated by the public, but their efforts, which were considered
most praiseworthy and successful, were those directed to the
production of students’ microscopes of various kinds, of good
working quality, and at a very moderate price, by the aid of an
extensive plant of machinery. Perhaps the most conspicuous of
these is a binocular microscope, which is rendered complete with
eye-pieces, and two objectives, at £10, about the same price as
that usually charged by themselves, and the other first-rate firms,
for merely adapting Wenham’s binocular arrangement to an
ordinary first-class instrument. The student’s microscope, firmly
supported on a solid circular base, comprising two fairly good ob-
jectives of one-inch and quarter-inch focus, and sold complete
for £5, is a highly commendable instrument.

This firm exhibits as an undoubted novelty a “ Dlusewm Micro-

92 BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES IN THE EXHIBITION.

scope,’ consisting of a microscope-body mounted over a large
revolving brass drum, in the interior of which are placed a number
of independently revolving cylinders, which traverse as they rotate,
by the aid of a many-threaded screw. The objects, 500 in
number, are placed spirally round the hollow cylinders, and are,
by appropriate and simple mechanism, brought successively into
the field of view, being illuminated by a reflector placed inside
the cylinder. This elaborate contrivance is well adapted for the
purpose for which it was designed, and will effectually protect the
collection of objects from dishonesty, as well as from carelessness.

Several new accessory apparatus are likewise comprised in this
collection. Besides the double nose-piece now generally in use,
there is a quadruple nose-piece, for mounting four object-glasses
simultaneously, either of which may be brought into the axis of
vision. This consists of a revolving piece, with four bent arms
attached to the body of the instrument, so that the axes of the
four objectives lie in a conical surface, one side of which is
coincident with the axis of the body. The weight of this
apparatus, when loaded with four objectives, will be nearly twice
that of the double nose-piece; and its greater convenience is
perhaps open to question ; moreover, it is thought to be impossible
that the fine adjustment can work with the delicacy essential for
high powers, when its spring is so heavily and so unnecessarily
loaded. There is also a very ingeniously contrived opaque object-
holder, in which, by a simple and effective means of complete
rotation in two planes perpendicular to each other, the point
of surface under examination may be placed in any required
position.

This firm also exhibits a variety of pieces of brass-work in all
stages of manufacture, from the rough casting to the finished
work, showing the beneficial action of planing, shaping, and
slotting machines, designed and constructed by themselves, on
the well-known and established principles now generally adopted
in mechanical engineering.

J. Swrer (United Kingdom, 2974) exhibits a microscope stand,
in which a chain-moyement is concealed in the triangular sliding-
bar and its stem, and the rectangular motions of the stage are
effected by eccentrics. The chain-movement necessarily gives
great smoothness of motion; the advantage of the stage-movement
is somewhat questionable.

F. H. Wenuam, M. (United Kingdom, 2989), exhibits his now
well-known and duly appreciated binocular arrangement, which
has already been alluded to (p. 22); the most perfect stereoscopic
effect is thereby produced, without the definition of the object
being sensibly impaired. This is due to the entire absence of
chromatic dispersion, the deflected pencil being perpendicularly
incident on, and emergent from, the corresponding surfaces; its
change of direction is solely due to internal reflection. If the
displacement of the pencils be effected by refraction, some amount
of chromatic dispersion is unavoidable, which has been found to

BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES IN THE EXHIBITION. 93

render such binocular vision extremely irksome, especially if long
continued. The construction is now so universally adopted in
new instruments, and adapted to old ones, by all the leading
British makers, that it would have involved needless repetition to
mention it in each particular case.

It would be unjust to conclude these observatiens without
a commendatory remark on the extreme not less than unusual
liberality, that induced Mr. Wenham to disclaim any personal
pecuniary advantage from this most ingenious and useful in-
vention.

J. Casarteii, Manchester (2873).

CuapBurn Brorunrs, Sheffield H.M. (2805).

Ex.iorr Broruers, M. (2897).

W. J. Satmon (2953).

ER. G. Woon (2994).
Microscopes are exhibited by all these firms, but none of them
require special notice.

Foreign Exhibitors,

E. F. Harrnacr, Paris, M. (France, 1417), exhibits a fine
collection of microscopes, the stades of which are generally on
the Oberhauser model, in which the body of the microscope
stands up from a heavy, hollow, cylindrical base or pedestal, the
upper surface of which forms the stage. The bulk of these in-
struments is much less than that of the first-class English
microscopes; this is not probably attended by any disadvantage,
except that, to a considerable extent, magnifying power is con-
veniently augmented by length of body. The powers generally are
very good—unquestionably the best in the foreign department ; the
deepest is 1 millimétre focal length, and hence about equivalent in
magnifying power to the 3;th of Powell and Lealand; but in
penetrating and defining power it is, not comparable with that
unique objective.

Several of the deeper powers by this and other foreign artists
are corrected for the transmission of the rays from the object to the
objective, through some intervening fluid medium, as distilled water.
This principle of construction has not been at all carried out in this
country ; all our objectives being corrected for the reception 0%
rays from air; it may, perhaps, possess advantages that are not at
first sight apparent, and deserves more attention than it has
has hitherto received.

A. Mrranp, Sen., Paris (France, 1418), exhibit miscroscopes,
the stands of which are after the ordinary English model. ‘The
objectives are after the usual French plan, consisting of three
similar achromatic lenses, superposed, which are either taken at
random from a pile, or at best, matched by trial. This principle
of construction is manifestly inferior to that universally adopted
in this country, especially in all the higher powers, in which the

94 BROOKES, ON MICROSCOPES IN THE EXHIBITION,

magnifying power is thrown principally on the anterior, and
the correction of aberration on the middle and posterior com-
binations.

J. G. Hormany, Paris M. (France, 1440), exhibits a polari-
microscope, an ingeniously designed and very convenient mstru-
ment for the examination of small crystals and crystalline plates,
under the influence of polarized light. The object to be examined
is placed in the middle of the instrument, at the common focus
of two triple combinations, so constructed as to collect the pen-
cils from a large field of view. A polarizer is placed beneath the
lower triplet, and an eye-piece and analyser above the upper
one. The visual angle is so large that the two axes of bi-axial
crystals may frequently be viewed simultaneously, even when
separated by a considerable angular interval. This appears to be
the most complete and effective apparatus that has been con-
structed for this class of physical investigations.

Nacuet & Son, Paris, M. (France, 1416), exhibit a good col-
lection of instruments, of which their binocular microscopes are
the most conspicuous. M. Nachet has undoubtedly the credit of
having been the first to achieve the successful construction of a
binocular microscope. The prismatic arrangement for bisecting
the visual pencil in the instruments recently exhibited is far
superior to that previously adopted by the same firm, and yields
perhaps as good a result as can be expected from any symmetrical
plan of construction ; the reasons for preferring the wasymmetrical
plan of Mr. Wenham have already been assigned. This firm
also exhibits some ingenious devices by which the pencil trans-
mitted by the objective is prismatically divided mto three and
four parts, and directed through as many divergent tubes, to
enable a like number of persons to view an object simultaneously ;
but the advantages which such persons would derive from seeing
an object imperfectly together, in preference to seeing it well
in succession, is not very apparent.

F. A. Nosrrt, M., Berlin (Prussia, 1410), exhibits a micro-
scope of his own design, and his well-known test lines, for which
a prize medal was awarded in the Exhibition of 1851, and a
description of which will be found at page 268 of that Jury
Report. The microscope is not conspicuous for the convenience
of its arrangements; it is tall and vertical, and has a micrometer
stage-movement, consisting of a micrometer-screw, with a large
graduated head attached to an adjacent fired pillar, and connected
with the stage by a Hook’s joint, in order to admit an adjustment
of the stage for focusing. ‘The vertical position of a microscope
is always undesirable, where it can be avoided, as the necessarily
flexed position of the head incommodes the circulation of the
blood, and tends, in conjunction with the active exercise of vision,
to produce congestion; moreover, vision is liable to be rendered
indistinct by the gravitation of any humours floating on the

surface of the eye to the then lowest point, the centre of the
cornea,

~

ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA. 95

H. Scuréver (Hamburg, 37) exhibits some very common-
place microscopes.

A few unimportant instruments in this class may possibly have
been overlooked in the foreign department.

Descrirtions of new British Poryzoa, with Remarks on
some imperfectly known Seucius. By Josuua Auper, Esq.

Tue branched calcareous Polyzoa have always commanded
attention, from the beauty of their form and structure, while
at the same time naturalists have experienced considerable
difficulty in defining their specific distinctions. My object
in the present paper is to endeavour to clear up some of the
difficulties that beset the study of the British species, more
especially in the genera Cellepora and Eschara, with regard
to some species of which a more than usual difference of
opinion exists. Dr. Johnston did much to unravel the syno-
nyms of this class in his ‘ History of British Zoophytes.’
But it is to Professor Busk that we are most indebted for a
knowledge of their peculiar structure, and a careful definition
of their generic and specific forms. In his ‘ Catalogue of the
Polyzoa in the British Museum,’ he points out the import-
ance of those curious organs, the avicularia and vibracula, in
the discrimination of species—an attention to which has very
materially contributed to the accuracy of definition. The
papers of the same distinguished observer, in the ‘ Journal of
Microscopical Science,’ still further increased our knowledge
of the British species, particularly in the description of those
got in Shetland by our lamented friend, Mr. Barlee. Still,
however, much remains to be done. The eminent Norwe-
gian naturalist, Professor Sars, has lately published a valua-
ble paper ‘On some Norwegian Polyzoa,’ which throws much
light on our British species, and especially those of Shetland.
With the assistance of specimens of his new genera, which
Professor Sars has kindly sent me, I shall be able to clear up
some points in our Polyzoa hitherto misunderstood, while at
the same time I shall have the opportunity of mtroducing a
few new species into the British Fauna.

Genus CELLEPORA.

Some of the species of this genus have lately been removed
to Hschara, including Cellepora Skenei and C, levis; also

96 ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA.

the C. cervicornis of British authors, the propriety of remoy-
ing which is doubtful. The only branched species mentioned
by Dr. Johnston, now generally retained in this genus, is C.
ramulosa. As one or two species have been confounded with
this, it will be necessary to re-define it.

CELLEPORA RAMULOSA, Linn. (PI. II, fig. 1.)

Polyzoary erect, white or yellowish, rather glossy, branch-
ing dichotomously, and arising generally from a broadish
spreading base, the branches cylindrical, and tapering very
slightly. Cells prominent, ventricose, rather irregularly
heaped, smooth, and occasionally punctured round the sides ;
the apertures smallish, nearly circular, with a strong project-
ing rostrum below, terminating generally in a sharp point,
and with an avicularium placed on one side. Ovicells small-
ish, subglobose, rather broader than long, smooth, and imper-
forate. Height sometimes reaching to three inches; lateral
expansion variable, but often exceeding the height. Breadth
of branches about one and a half tenths.

Cellepora ramulosa, Flem., ‘ Brit. Anim.,’ 582; Johns., in
‘Newc. Nat. Hist. Trans.,’ v. ii, p. 267, t. 12, figs. 3, 4;
‘Brit. Zooph.,’? 2nd Ed., p. 296, t. 52, figs. 4,5; Couch,
‘Cornish Fauna,’ pt. ii, p. 110, t. 20, fig. 2; Busk, ‘ Catal.,’
p. 87, t. 109, fig. 1, 2, 3, (young ?).

This species may generally be known by its roughened and
spinous appearance. Large specimens are much branched;
the branches are round, tapering a little towards the apex,
- where, occasionally, they are slightly flattened. Professor
Busk says* that the ovicells are punctured, but this, I think,
is a mistake, as, according to my observation, they are
smooth and imperforate, and in that respect are well distin-
guished from the following.

- CELLEPORA DIcHoToMA, Hincks, (Pl. II, figs. 2, 3, 4.)

This species has been described by the Rev. T. Hincks, in
his ‘Catalogue of the Zoophytes of South Devon and Corn-
wall. It is distinguished from C. ramulosa by its less spinous
surface, the rostrum below the aperture being blunt, and, ex-
cepting in young cells, very slightly projecting. The stem is
slender below, and scarcely expanded at the base, becoming

* © Fossil Polyzoa of the Crag,’ p. 58.

ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA. 97

broader as it ascends, branching dichotomously, and tapering
toa blunt apex. The ovicells are larger and more numerous
than in the last species, and are distinctly perforated. Besides
the avicularium on one side of the rostrum, there are small,
circular avicularia scattered over the surface and between the
cells, with a few larger spatulate ones interspersed. The
specimens got by Mr. Hincks appear to have been of small
size; but on the coast of Northumberland, where the species
is not uncommon, it grows rather larger, though seldom
reaching above an inch in height. It varies a good deal in
form, sometimes spreading in a palmate manner, like an elk’s
horn (fig. 3), sometimes consisting of more slender cylindri-
cal branches of nearly equal thickness throughout (fig. 2).
The typical form, however, is a little ventricose in the centre,
and not much branched.

CELLEPORA ATTENUATA, n. sp. (Pl. II, fig. 5—8.)

Polyzoary very slender, white, cylindrical, nearly smooth
below, a little roughened above, dichotomously branched, the
branches of equal thickness throughout, and diverging on all
sides. Cells immersed or very slightly raised, excepting
those towards the extremities of the branches, which are a
little more prominent; their surface is smooth, with small
tubular perforations round the margins, and a few circular
and slightly raised avicularia on the surface of the cells.
Apertures nearly circular, with a slightly projecting rostrum
below, bearing a small avicularium on one side; the rostra
are obliterated in the lower portion of the stem and branches.
Ovicells free, semicircular, decumbent, a little perforated.
Height, about aninch; lateral expansion, rather less ; breadth
of stem, =!;th of an inch.

The species has yet only been found in Shetland, where it
was first got by Mr. Barlee, in 1858. It has lately been ob-
tained in the same locality, by the Rev. A. M. Norman.
C. attenuata comes rather near to some varieties of the last,
from which it may be known by its more slender form and
uniform thickness throughout, by its smoother and more even
surface, and likewise by the absence of the numerous avicu-
laria of that species. Young individuals of this and the two
preceding species are, with difficulty, distinguished from each
other. In its typical form this species is very slender, and
the cells are placed rather more regularly than is usual in
the genus Cellepora, but occasionally a cell may be found
reversed, or placed diagonally.

98 ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA.

CrLLEPORA CERVICORNIS, }leming.

Much difference of opinion exists concerning the British
species generally known under this name. The points in
dispute are :—

Ist. Is the species a Cellepora or an Eschara?

2nd. Is it the same as the Eschera cervicornis of Milne
Jdwards, and the Millepora cervicornis of Pallas?

3rd. Are more than one species confounded by British
authors under the name of Cellepora (or Eschara) cervicornis ;
and does the species figured by Dr. Johnston belong to it?

With respect to the first of these questions, it may be
stated that, in its young state, and at the ends of the branches,
this species has the character of an Eschara; the polyzoary
being much compressed, with the cells arranged back to back,
in regular quincunx. The form of the apertures is ovate or
nearly circular, and a little contracted below, with a central
avicularium on the lower lip. In a more advanced state the
apertures become orbicular, and the basal portion is con-
tracted into a narrow slit or sinus. As age advances, addi-
tional layers are superimposed, giving the stem and branches
amore rounded form, and on each layer the cells become
more irregular, until they are confusedly scattered, heaped
together, and raised at intervals. In this state the species
assumes the character of a Cellepora. A different view of its
generic position may therefore arise, according as its older or
younger portions are taken for illustration. Admitting its
adult state to be the perfect form, I agree with M. Milne
Edwards in considering the species to belong to Cellepora
rather than to Eschara.*

On the second point I am also inclined to agree with M.
Milne Edwards in the opinion expressed below. The E. cervi-
cornis, so well described and figured by that able naturalist
in his ‘ Recherches sur les Eschares,’ is more slender in form
and less expanded at the top of the branches than in the
British species. The cells in the young part are more pro-
minent, and the apertures more elongated. But the chief
difference is in the older part of the stem and branches, which

* “M. Fleming a décrit aussi sous le nom de Cellepora cervicornis
(‘British Animals,’ p. 532) un Polypier qwil a trouvé sur les cétes de
Ecosse, et qu’il considére comme identique avec le Porus cervinus dIm-
perato, etc.; mais d’aprés linspection d’un écbantillon qu il a envoyé sous
ce nom au Musée de York, nous ne doutons pas que ce ne soit une espece
tout-a-fait distincte, et méme un yéritable Cellepore plutot qu'un Eschare.”
—Recherches sur les Eschares.

ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA. 99

is finely granulated, with the cells sunk and almost oblite-
rated, very different from the heaped and prominent cells of
our British species. M. Milne Edwards’s specimens were
from the Mediterranean. On turning to Pallas’s ‘Elenchus’
for the original description of his Millepora cervieornis, we
find it to agree more nearly with the species described by
Milne Edwards than our own, while the locality, “ Mare
Mediterraneum solum,’ shows that he had not the British
Species in view at the time. Indeed, I am inclined to think
that his E. fascialis, a, from the Isle of Wight, was really
a variety of our C. cervicornis, some of the forms of which
approach very closely in general appearance to that species ;
and, as far as I am aware, Pallas’s statement here alluded to
is the only authority for including E. fascialis in the British
Fauna. The “Italian coral” figured by Ellis was most likely
from the Mediterranean.

With regard to the third point. Through the kindness of
my friends, I have had the opportunity of examining nume-
rous specimens of this species, both from Shetland and the
coast of Cornwall; and I am led to the conclusion that,
though considerable difference exists in the external form of
examples from the two localities, their minute structure does
not warrant the separation of them into two distinct species.
Those from the south coast are generally more massive, espe- ©
cially in their basal portions, than specimens from the Shet-
land seas. On referring to the descriptions of British
authors, I find most of them agree pretty well in the essential
characters of the species; and though Mr. Busk considers his
E. cervicornis (‘ Catal. Mar. Polyzoa’) to be identical with
that of Milne Edwards, it is evident, from the latter part of
- his remarks upon it, that it has the characters of a Cellepora,
aud a specimen he has kindly presented to me shows it to
belong to our well-known British species. Mr. Richard
Couch was of opinion that the figure given in Johnston’s
‘ British Zoophytes’ represented a different species from that
described in the ‘ Cornish Fauna,’ and Professor Busk was
inclined to agree in this opinion. Professor Sars has also
suggested that Dr. Johnston’s figure was probably taken
from a specimen of the EH. rosea of Busk. Dr. Johnston’s
own opinion, however, was in favour of the specific identity
of the British forms. I have taken some pains to ascertain
if the specimen figured in ‘ British Zoophytes’ was still pre-
served and could be referred to, and have at length been able
to make out pretty satisfactorily, through the kind assistance
of Mr. Norman and Dr. Baird, that this specimen is in the

VOL. IV.— NEW SER. H

100 ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA.

British Museum. <A broken fragment of it, lent me for exa-
mination, proves, as I had expected, that it is only an aber-
rant variety of the C. cervicornis of British authors.

PaLmi CELLARIA, Hoy. genus,

Polyzoary erect, calcareous, inarticulate, cylindrical,
smooth, branching dichotomously. Cells disposed in four
longitudinal alternate series, those in the two opposite series
being on the same level. Apertures circular, opening ver-
tically, within a slight concavity (Pl. ITI, fig. 4,) with a broad
projecting, palmate expansion in front, bearing an ayicu-
larium.

This genus is somewhat intermediate between Cellepora and
the Quadricellaria of Sars. With the former it agrees partially
in the form of the aperture, but it differs in the simplicity of its
general structure and the regular arrangement of its cells,
which have not the heaped appearance more or less character-
istic of that genus in its adult state. With Quadricellaria it
agrees in the arrangement of the cells, but differs in the

form and position of their apertures. No ovicells have yet
been observed.

PALMICELLARIA ELEGANS, n. sp. (Pl II, figs. 1—4.)

Polyzoary very slender, of ivory whiteness, two or three
times dichotomously branched nearly on the same plane,
and of equal thickness throughout, or expanding very slightly
towards the top; composed of four longitudinal rows of cells
alternately with each other, the opposite cells correspond-
ing; they are oblong-ovate and smooth, young cells showing
some minute perforations round their margins ; the apertures
are circular and sunk in a slight depression, with a long,
curved, and expanded rostrum in front, bearing a circular
avicularium on the centre of the upper surface. Height
_{,ths of aninch; breadth of stem -,th inch.

For the opportunity of describing this elegant and grace-
ful little coral I am indebted to my friend Mr. Norman,
who dredged it last summer in from eighty to ninety fathoms,
eighteen to twenty-five miles north of Burraforth light-
house, the most northern point in Shetland. Palmicellaria
elegans is distinguished, not less by the simplicity of its
structure than by the gracefulness of its form. It is of

ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA. 101

small size and very little branched, and is more slender than
any other member of the family.

Mr. Norman had previously dredged a small piece of this
polyzoon in Loch Fyne, but not sufficiently perfect to allow
of its characters being recognised ; and he has since ascer-
tained that similar imperfect specimens are in the Johnsto-
nian collection in the British Museum, labelled Pustulipora
proboscidea, showing that the species erroneously so named
in ‘ British Zoophytes’ was described from much worn ex-
amples of this genus. ‘The P. proboscidea of Milne Edwards
is quite distinct, and belongs to a different order.

Genus QUADRICELLARIA, Sars.

Polyzoary erect, calcareous, rigid, inarticulate, cylindrical,
dichotomously branched. Cells disposed in four regular
longitudinal alternate series, immersed; apertures slightly
tubular (opening laterally), with the upper and lower margins
a little projecting. Polypides with twelve to twenty tenta-
cles, the lower ones shortest.

Professor Sars characterised a genus formed for a Poly-
zoon that he had formerly described as a Pustulipora.
The same species has been referred by Prof. Busk to his
new genus Onchopora, in the family Salicornariade. The
latter comes nearer to its true affinities. The species, how-
ever, seems entitledto generic rank, and is now, I think,
more correctly placed among the Escharide.*

QUADRICELLARIA GRACILIS, Sars. (Pi. I, figs. 9—12.)

Polyzoary slender, white, much branched dichotomously,
the branches cylindrical, nearly linear, and tapering a little
towards the extremities. Cells arranged in four longitudinal
rows, alternating with each other, so that the two cells
on opposite side of the branches are on the same level.
Apertures nearly circular, slightly tubular and bilabiate.
There is a small tubular orifice below the mouth, and large
oval radiating perforations surround the margins of the
cells, the surface of which is finely striated in an undulating
manner. Two, or sometimes four, small circular avicularia
are seen at the sides of the cells, on a line with the perfora-

* Mr. Busk informs us that the name Quadricellaria has been already
used by D’Orbigny for a genus of chalk fossils, and will have to be changed,

102 ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA,

tions. The ovicells are few and very little raised. Height
1 to 1} inches. ;

Pustulipora gracilis, Sars, ‘ Reise i Lof. og Finm.,’ 1850,
p- 26.

Onchopora borealis, Busk in ‘ Journ. Micros. Soc.,’ p. 215,
t. 28, figs. 6, 7.

Quadricellaria gracilis, Says, ‘ Norske Polyz.,’ p. 15.

This interesting Polyzoon has, until lately, been much
misunderstood. ‘The only notice of it as a British species is
that of Mr. Busk, who described it under the name of
Onchopora borealis, from a small and imperfect specimen in
Mr. Barlee’s collection. That so imperfect a scrap only
should have come into Mr. Busk’s hands for description must
have been by some mistake, as Mr. Barlee brought several
specimens from Shetland in 1858, where it was also ob-
tained last summer by Mr. Norman. It is a deep-water
species, and has not been found in any other locality in
Britain, but appears to be not uncommon on the Norwegian
coast.

Prof. Sars considers this genus to be without avicu-
laria. None is seen in the usual position on the under lip
of the cell aperture, nor does the small tubular orifice below
it appear to possess that character, but two other circular
orifices, slightly tubular, are generally present one on each side
of the central orifice already : named, and continuous with the
marginal perforations ; these are certainly avicularia, and
bear a horn-coloured semicircular mandible. Two other
similar avicularia are frequently seen below these last on the
margin of the cell. There is an obscure, slightly raised
ovicell, with a striated surface in the usual position above
some of the cells, with an opening within the upper lip.
M. Sars appears to doubt this being a true ovicell, but the
coloured contents shining through its transparent wall, as in
other species, show its ovigerous character.

Escuara ta&vis, Fleming. (PI. III, figs. 8-11.)

Polyzoary white or yellowish, smooth and polished below,
dichotomously branched; the branches cylindrical, rising
from a short and stout stem, spreading much laterally, and
slightly tapering to a blunt apex. Ce//s immersed, ovate,
very obscurely granulated on the surface, and perforated at
the sides. Apertures generally a little higher than broad,
arched on the upper margin, slightly contracted at the side

ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA. 103

and straight below; upon or a little within the under lip
is a slightly raised circular avicularium. Ovicel/s smooth, pro-
minent, hooded, or contimued below into a projecting margin
surrounding the mouth of the cell. Height, an inch and a
quarter ; lateral expansion, about an inch and ahalf; breadth
of branches ~!,th of an inch.

Cellepora levis, Fleming, ‘ Brit. Anim.,’ p. 532; Johns.
‘ Brit. Zoop.,’ p. 299.

Eschara teres, Busk in ‘Ann. Nat. Hist.,’? 2nd series,
Vol. xvii, p. 33, t.1, fig. 2.

Eschara levis, Sars, «Besk. over- nogle Polyz.,’ p. 12.

This species was described by Dr. Fleming i in 1828. from
a single specimen got in deep water, Shetland. Since that
time it does not appear to have been recognised by British
authors, for the specimens got on the Cornish coast, which Mr.
Richard Couch referred to this species, appear from his com-
parison of them with C. cervicornis to have been something
else. Dr. Johnston did not know the species, and the sup-
posed C. levis, got by Mr. John Macgillioray, on the Aber-
deenshire coast, was probably, as Dr. Johnston supposed,
a worn variety of C. ramulosa. Professor Busk does not
notice it in his ‘Catalogue of Marie Polyzoa,’ and in his
‘Polyzoa of the Crag’ quotes C. levis as a synonym of
C.ramulosa. The same naturalist has, however, described a
species from the coast of Norway, brought home by Mr.
McAndrew, under the name of E. teres, which proves iden-
tical with this. Mr. Barlee, in the mean time, had got
several good specimens in Shetland, but probably consider-
ing it a variety of EH. ramulosa, he had not placed it in Mr.
Busk’s hands for description. Prof. Sars finds this fine
species pretty generally distributed on the coast of Norway,
in deep water, from 36 to 150 fathoms, and has published an
excellent description of it in his ‘ Beskrivelse overnogle
Norske Polyzoer.’ He very correctly recognises it as the
C. levis of Fleming. ‘The species is perfectly distinct from
the C.ramulosa; and I have great pleasure in vindicating
the correctness of Dr. Fleming, and restoring it to its place
in the British Fauna, from which there appeared some chance
of its being expunged.

Eschara levis is one of those species that form an interme.
diate link between Cellepora and Esehara; its rounded
branches, with the cells ranged round an imaginary axis,
agreeing with Cellepora, while the cells themselves bear the
character ofan Eschara. Occasionally, however, the branches
assume a flattened shape. The lower parts of the branches
are generally worn smooth, and the apertures often over-

104 ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA.

grown or nearly obliterated; but the upper portions are
usually studded with prominent globular ovicells, giving them
a knotted appearance. There is no authentic record of this
species having been found south of Shetland. A smaller
and more slender variety was also met with there by Mr.
Norman.

EscHARA LoREA,* n. sp. (PI. III, figs. 5, 6, 7.)

Polyzoary yellowish white, shining, compressed, and dicho-
tomously branched, rising from a slender flattened stem ; the
branches are slender, much compressed, and strap-shaped, of
nearly equal thickness throughout, expanding a little towards
the ends, which are blunt, and generally bifid; the branches
are pretty nearly on the same plane, and occasionally anasto-
mose. Cells prominent, oval, nearly smooth, but appearing
finely granulated under a magnifier, placed in quincunx, sel-
dom more than two or three in a transverse row. Aperiures
large, rounded above, and nearly straight below, with a
slightly projecting, blunt rostrum, bearmg a circular avicu-
larium on its upper and inner surface. A few small circular
avicularia are also seen scattered on some of the cells, and
there are punctures occasionally round the margin. Ovicells
few, small, globose, slightly granulated, without perforations.
Height, an inch to an inch and a half; breadth of branches,
about +,th of an inch.

One or two specimens of this new species were obtained in
Shetland by Mr. Barlee, but being rather worn, they were
passed over at the time as a variety of E. Skenei. Mr. Nor-
man met with it at the same place in 1861, and again in
1863, when he dredged fine specimens in eighty to ninety
fathoms, to the north of Burraforth lighthouse.

Ei. lorea is nearly allied to E. saccata of Busk, but it is a
much more slender and delicate species, with the cells rather
larger in proportion, less closely set, and fewer in a tran-
verse row. ‘The cells in this species, too, have a distinct
though blunt rostrum below the mouth, while those of E.
saceata are not rostrated, but are uniformly cylindrical, with
a much larger avicularium in front of the aperture. On the

* JT had proposed to call this species E. ligulata, under which name it is
mentioned (but not described) in the Report of the British Association ;
finding, however, that the Celleporaligulata of Esper is also an Eschara, and
synonymous with the E. fascialis of Pallas, I have thought it best to avoid
a repetition of the name.

ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA. 105

other hand, this species approaches very near to some of the
more slender branched varieties of E. Skenei, from which it
can readily be distinguished, in a fresh state, by its more
smooth and slender appearance, and by the absence of the

pointed rostra, that give a prickly character to the latter
species.

Escuara Lanpssorovu, Johnston. (Pl. IV, figs. 1—3.)

Polyzoary consisting of very thin and delicate foliaceous
plates, anastomosing irregularly, and undulating- on the
upper margin, which is a little expanded. Cells in longitu-
dinal rows, placed alternately or in quincunx. They are ob-
long, thin, and perforated with large punctures. Apertures
with the margin slightly raised, nearly circular above, and
produced into a point below, where there is a small, slightly
prominent, circular avicularium, behind which is a truncated
denticle. Ovicells prominent, globose, or ovate, silvery and
perforated, produced below into a raised margin, surrounding
the mouth of the cell, and giving it a triangular form. A
rather large, spatulate avicularium is seen in some cells,
placed transversely by the side of an ovicell, and raised a little
from the surface (fig. 3). The two layers of cells are separa-
ble. Height, two inches: breadth, about two and a half
inches.

Lepralia Landsborovii, Johus., ‘ Brit. Zooph.,’ p. 310, t. 54,
fig. 9; Busk, ‘ Catal.,’ p. 66, t. 86, fig. 1, and t. 102, fig. 1;
Hincks, in ‘ Journ. Micros. Soc.,’ v. vill, p. 277 (young state).

Eschara foliacea, Alder, in ‘Trans. Tynes. Club,’ v. iii,
p. 151.

This delicate and fragile species was obtained some time
ago on the north coast of Northumberland, by Mr. Embleton,
of Beaduel Cottage, but was passed at the time of the publi-
cation of my ‘Catalogue of the Zoophytes of Northumber-
land and Durham,’ asa variety of HE. foliacea. A second and
more careful examination, however, convinced me that it was
a distinct and very characteristic species, hitherto undescribed
as an Eschara, but not entirely unknown to science, as the L.
Landsboroyii of Johnston turns out to be an encrusting form
of this species, which has not until now been seen in its per-
fect state. Mr. Bean, however, has lately sent me a small
specimen for examination, got at Scarborough, in which a
double layer of cells rises to about an inch in height; and
Mr. Norman has dredged a variety of this species in Guernsey,

106 ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA,

consisting of a single layer, assuming the form of a hollow
cylinder, with the edges slightly appressed at their junction.
Mr. Hincks has also met with similar examples. It is rather
singular that on this coast, where for the first time the spe-
cies has been found in its perfect state, the Lepralian or rudi-
mentary form is unknown. In its intermediate state this
species has all the characters of the genus Hemeschara of
Busk. At present, I am inclined to consider that genus as
only a peculiar state of an Eschara, and which some species
have more tendency to assume than others.

E. Landsbovorii differs from most of the other members of
the genus, in having the two layers of cells readily separable
—a character that has been considered generic by some
authors, but which does not appear to be of any great im-
portance.

EscHARA PAVONELLA, Alder.

Polyzoary foliaceous, yellowish, forming continuous flabel-
liform or undulating expansions, arising from an encrusting or
clasping base. Cells oval or oblong, with large perforations
generally radiating from the centre to the circumference.
Apertures orbicular, large, with a thin, plain margin, and a
small mucro below, having a flattened and truncated apex. An
oval avicularium on each side of the mouth. No ovicells have
been observed. Height, about an inch and a half; breadth
variable, but generally exceeding the height.

E. cribraria, Busk, in ‘ Journ. Micros. Soc.,’ v. iv, p. 31],
t. 10/1687; 9:

Excellent figures of this beautiful species were given by
Mr. Busk in the ‘ Microscopical Journal,’ from specimens I
had the pleasure of sending him from Newcastle a few years
ago. That gentleman then considered it to he the E. cribra-
ria of Johnston, an opinion which now proves to be erroneous.
I was first led to this conclusion from observing that Dr.
Johnston mentions, in his account of E. cribraria,* having
had a fragment of another native species sent him from Scar-
borough, by Mr. Bean, but too imperfect for description in
so difficult a genus. Mr. Bean has favoured me with a sight
of this fragment, which proves to belong to the present spe-
cies, aud which Dr. Johnston, therefore, evidently considered
distinct from his E. cribraria. An examination of Dr. John-
ston’s specimen of the latter species in the British Museum,
sah made for me by Mr. Norman, confirms this opinion,

* ‘British Zoophytes,’ 2nd Ed., p. 353,

ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA, 107

and makes it necessary to give another name to the species
now under consideration.

E. pavonella, like the foregoing species, is sometimes found
assuming all the three forms of a Lepralia, a Hemesehara,
and an Eschara, according to the substance on which it is
developed, often clasping the stems of zoophytes in a single
layer before rising into a double foliaceous expansion. It is
a deep-water species, only yet found on the north-east coast
of England, ranging from Cullercoats to Scarborough, and
extending eastward to the Dogger Bank.

Family CELLULARIADA, Busk.
ScrvrocerLarta Deniniu, Audouin, (PI. III, figs. 4—8.)

Polyzoary slender, shining, dichotomously branched, con-
spicuously jomted, the internodes containing from five to ten
cells each. Cells ovate, narrowed below; apertures oyal,
with smooth margins, bearing one stout spine (or sometimes
two) on the upper and outer margins, and a smaller one on
the inner margin. Operculum ovate, channelled with tubes,
forming a lobated cavity. Marginal avicularia moderately
prominent; there is also a tubular or conical avicularium in
the centre, in front of each cell. Vibracular capsules (sinus
of Busk) transversely wedge-shaped, stretching across the
back of a cell and part of the adjoining one. Vibracula
short, rising from the upper and outer angle of the capsule,
below which is an aperture for one of the radical fibres, which
are numerous and scattered over the whole of the branches.
Ovicells small, smooth, and imperforate. Height half an
inch.

Crisia Delilii, Aud., in Savigny’s ‘ Egypt’ (fide Busk).

Yellularia scrupea, Alder, in ‘Trans. Tynes. Club,’ y. in,
. 148.
: Scrupocellaria Delilii, Busk, in ‘Journ. Micros. Soc.,’
V. vil, p. 65, t. 22, figs. 1, 2, 3.

I obtained specimens of this delicate little Scrupocellaria a
few years ago, from the deep-water fishing-boats on the
Northumberland coast, but did not at the time observe its
distinctness from 8. scrupea, with which it agrees in having
the cells operculated. It differs, however, in having an
avicularium on the front of each cell, and in the peculiar
shape of the vibracular capsule, which is transversely wedge-
shaped, while in the other known species it is bilobed and

108 ALDER, ON NEW BRITISH POLYZOA.

erect. Another example of this species has lately been
dredged on the Durham coast, by Mr. G. 8. Brady and Mr.
Hodge. It appears to be a Mediterranean species, and has
also been found in Madeira by Mr. J. Y. Johnson. This is
the first notice of its occurrence on the British coast.

Order Cyciostomata, Busk.
Family IpMoneip#, Busk.
Genus HORNERA, Lamouroux.
Horner BOREALIS, Busk. (Pl. IV, figs. 1—6.)

Polyzoary white, much and irregularly branched; the
branches commencing almost from the base, stout below,
undulating, and gradually tapering to the extremities ; they
are cylindrical or a little compressed, curving slightly inwards
below on the smooth side, and rather bent outwards towards
their extremities; the cell-apertures are arranged nearly in
quincunx on the outside of the branches; the central ones
are orbicular and slightly tubular, with an even rim; those
towards the sides are more produced, dilated and expanded
obliquely towards their extremities, and sometimes ending in
an acute point, but more frequently slightly rounded; there
are three or four cells in each transverse row. The surface
on this side is striated in an undulating manner, and there
are numerous small, sub-tubular perforations (some of which
appear to be avicularia), somewhat irregularly disposed, but
generally following the margins of the cells. ‘The inner or
back part of the branches is smooth, without cells, but with
faint undulating ridges, and a few very small punctures like
sunken tubes. The ovicells are placed on this side, generally
near the junction of a branch, forming yellowish, sub-globu-
lar protuberances, of a hard, calcareous nature, and appear-
ing reticulated or coarsely punctured under a magnifier; a
tubular aperture is seen at one side (Pl. V, fig. 6). Height,
about three quarters of an inch; lateral expansion about the
same; thickness of the branches, from ;),th to jth of an
inch.

Hornera frondiculata, Busk, in ‘Ann. Nat. Hist.,’ 2nd
Ser., v. xvili, p. 84, t. 1, fig. 7; Sars (Reise i Lof. og Finm.), -
“Nyt Mag.,’ v. vi, p. 146.

Hornera borealis, Busk, ‘ Crag Polyzoa,’ p. 103 (without
description).

This interesting Hornera, the first of the genus discovered

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 109

in Britain, was got by Mr. Barlee in Shetland, in 1858, and
recognised at the time, but, by some oversight, it has not
hitherto been announced as British. It is stated by Pro-
fessor Sars to be not uncommon on some parts of the Nor-
wegian coast, in about forty fathoms. Professor Busk has
recorded and figured it among the Polyzoa got by Mr.
McAndrew on that coast, and in his ‘ Polyzoa of the Crag,’
points out its distinctness from H. frondiculata, and proposes
for it the name of borealis, which I now adopt. It differs
from H. frondiculate, in being much smaller, less expanded,
and more robust, in proportion to its size; the surface, too,
is much less strongly striated; another difference will be
found in the character of the marginal cells; these in the
southern species are usually set in diagonal rows, which is
not the case in H. borealis. But the most decided difference
is in the ovicells. Those of H. frondiculata are oblong,
strongly keeled along the top, and striated at the sides, with
the aperture projecting above into a curved tube (Pl. V,
fig. 7); but in H. borealis they are globose and reticulated,
or punctured over the surface, with a tubular aperture at one
side. The ovicells in this genus are very peculiar. They are
large, and developed from the general polyzoary at the back
of a branch, apparently unconnected with the individual
polypides, thus showing a decided zoophytic character.

An Envravour to identify Patmoct@a Macrococca (Kiitz.)
with Description of the Puant believed to be meant, and
of a New Srerctigs, both, however, referable rather to the
Grenus Mrostanium (Nag.). By Wiiiiam Arcuer.

(Read before the Natural History Society of Dublin, January 9, 1863.)

Berore proceeding to the subject proper of this communi-
cation I shall call to mind the characters of the genus
Palmogloea (Kiitz.) itself, thus defined by Kiitzing :*—
“Stratum gelatinosum difforme indeterminatum, ex cellulis
sparsis polygonimicis in substantia gelinea nidulantibus, com-
positum.” Now, such a diagnosis of the genus, while it does
not seem calculated to exclude all that it ought, appears to
me to omit an additional important character pervading all
the species intended to be included therein (if we except, as we
ought, Palmoglea Roemeriana Kitz.), and that is the elon-

* *Species Algarum,’ p. 227,

110 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA,

vate or oblong form of the cells. As I should be disposed
to understand it, putting aside his Palmoglea Roemeriana,
Kiitzing must have established his genus Palmogloa for the
reception of, and meant it to include, all those Palmellaceous
Algze (except the one species forming his genus Trichodictyon,
separated from his Palmogloea with little reason) possessing
oblong, cylindrical, or elliptic cells, with granular contents,
each cell possessing only a single simple, special, mucous coat
not persistently included coat within coat, the whole becoming
confluent into an indeterminate gelatinous stratum of greater
or less density or tenuity. Itis true that, of course, im the
specific characters and diagnosis of subgroups, the elongate
form of the cells is alluded to, but I do not think a character
so obviously generic should have been left to be sought for
amongst the specific. But the fact of Roemeriana being
included in the genus compelled him to omit this character
from the diagnosis,

It is, indeed, with much diffidence that I venture to suggest
that Kiitzing’s three subdivisions of his genus are founded
upon wholly unreliable distinctions. These distinctions in
regard to the two principal subdivisions, P. Roemeriana form-
ing the third, are based, so far, indeed, as I can judge, merely
on the comparative density or tenuity of the gelatinous
“matrix,” or, in other words, the supposed greater or less
readiness with which the special mucous investments of the
cells remain individually defined, or become confluent with
each other, thus rendering the “ loculi’’ (Kiitz.) more or less
noticeable, or not at all perceptible. These distinctions seem
to be by no means of the constancy requisite for usefully
available characters ; indeed, as A. Braun* well observes, of
so little value are they as to render it doubtful in which sec-
tion we are to seek a particular species. The remark was
made especially in regard to a plant named by him, as most
approaching to truth, Palmoglea macrococca (Kiitz.); but I
venture to think that the plant meant by A. Braun was not
that so named by Kiitzing, nor, indeed, probably any de-
scribed by that celebrated author. Indeed, the degree of
moisture of the situation in which these plants grow seems
to exercise a considerable influence on the consistence of the
common gelatinous stratum. A mass of one of these species
in drying assumes a firmness and a somewhat elastic tenacity
before shrivelling up. In those species which grow wholly in
water the gelatine i is of considerable tenuity, and the cells
sometimes even live free.

- ‘Rejuvenescence in Nature,’ translated for the Ray Society, 1853,
p. 327.

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 111

But in this genus Palmogloea it will seem evident, I think,
upon a careful examination of the living plants, that there
are associated forms of readily distinguishable diverse generic
types, the most obvious common character being the per-
vading elongate or oblong form of the cells. Amongst these
Palmogloea-forms, then, including therein the single one
placed under Trichodictyon, and of which I have just endea-
voured to convey a very general conception, I believe I see five
types. It is true that Professor De Bary* alludes to but
two, and also referring to those two, and to the genus Penium
(Bréb.), while he conceives they are undoubtedly separated
by distinct characters from each other, he thinks those cha-
racters seem to be of so slight value as that these three types
may eventually have to be united inone genus.+ But surely
Penium interruptum, or P. digitus, or P. closterioides, or P.
cylindrus, and others, have little in common with Kiitzing’s
Palmoglea-forms ; and, even admitting them all as belonging
to the family Desmidiacez, if the generic types alluded to
should prove constant—which, so far as we know, I should
say they really seem to be, and as to which future research
will be useful to decide—it would seem more advisable to retain
them as representing three distinct genera.

I have said that Kitzing’s plants included in Palmoglea
seem to be separable into five types, and I shall now, one by
one, endeavour to point them out.

(1) Palmoglea Roemeriana (Kiitz.) seems altogether dis-
tinct from any of the others. I have never seen it, but it
seems to possess angulato-globose cells, combined into a flat-
-tened frond-like expansion, growing in water. Whatever it
be, it will, I think, be admitted that it has little affinity indeed
with any of the others, and that it should find no place here.
Kiitzing himself, indeed, places it under one of his subgroups,
under the subgeneric name of Limnodictyon.

(2) Palmoglwa minococca, var. eruginea (Kiitz.), appears to
me to be aform referable rather to Gleeothece (Nag.){ than to
this genus; but in Gloeothece no conjugative or other gene-
rative process has been noticed, and I shall not dare to enter
into any disquisition as to whether the forms included in that
genus or their allies are or are not actually independent
organisms—that is to say, whether they themselves represent
the species or are merely the transitory intermediate phases
in the development or “ alternations,” so to speak, of higher
plants. Be that as it may, they are at least forms of more or

* Op. cil., p. 30.
+. Ib., p. 74.
+ * Gattungen einzclliger Algen,’ p. 57.

112 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOUCCA.

less frequent occurrence to those who seek for them; and,
under any circumstances, Glceothece appears to have no im-
mediate affinity with the remaining Palmoglcea-forms ; and I
may, besides, call to mind that the endochrome in Gleothece
is “‘phycochrome.”’ It would, therefore, be superfluous and
beyond the object of this paper to enter into any description
of them here.

(3.) Palmoglea endospira (Kiitz.) = Cylindrocystis endospira
(Bréb.), and P. closteridia (Kiitz.) = Endospira closteridia
(Bréb.), with their distinctly well-marked, parietally wound,
spiral band of endochrome, represent a type entirely distinct
from the preceding or the following. I conceive they really
and naturally belong to the genus Spirotznia (Bréb.), and,
for my part, I see no grounds sufficient to separate them in a
distinct genus from S. condensata, for instance ; for surely that
the former live on damp rocks, forming confluent gelatinous
strata, and that the latter inhabit pools and live more or less
isolated, can hardly be accounted such. It is true that in 8.
condensata, and some others, self-division appears to be oblique,
whilst in P. endospira it istransverse. But I do not venture
to express this opinion without having had an opportunity to
examine living specimens of what I believe to be the former
species (P. endospira (Kiitz.) = C. endospira et Endospira
truncorum (Bréb.), which I obtained in small quantity from
a moist cleft in arock near the road side in the “ Rocky
Valley,” near Bray. But I make the statement with a great
amount of deference; for I am here at variance with the
original discoverer of the two forms, M. de Brébisson himself,
who would still consider these as forming a genus of Palmel-
laceze, and not as belonging to the genus Spirotenia. I sub-
mitted mounted specimens of my plant to him; and although,
owing to the unavoidably altered state of the plant as com-
pared with the fresh condition, he would uot speak positively
as to its being actually his H. truncorum, yet he believed it
must be. I have myself little or no doubt but that so it was.
But, on the other hand, I am fortified in the opinion of the
actual identity of the genera Endospira and Spirotzenia by that
of Professor De Bary, who describes a species of the latter
genus under the name of Spirotenia muscicola, of which he
quotes Palmoglea endospira (Kiitz.)=Endospira truncorum
(Bréb.), as synonymous, but with a note of interrogation ap-
pended, and this wisely, for the identity of De Bary’s species
with those of De Brébisson must, indeed, still remain a ques-
tion. I should, indeed, be disposed to imagine that they are
distinct species, but, as I have indicated, belonging to the
same genus; S. muscicola is apparently a larger form. To

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 113

enter into the characters of the genus Spirotznia, as already
known, would be alike unnecessary and beyond the purpose
of this communication ; they are to be found set forth, as far
as is known, by various writers. No reproductive process
having been noticed in this genus, its position, indeed, remains
unsettled; but there cannot be much doubt but that, when
discovered, it will be found to be by conjugation. However,
the before-indicated parietal, spirally wound band of endo-
chrome abundantly separates the two forms mentioned,
included in Palmoglea by Kiitzing, from the forms I have
previously adverted to, and from those included in the fourth
and fifth types presently to be alluded to. There may, in-
deed, be some possibility that likewise the form called Pai-
moglearupestris (Kiitz.), which is thus spoken of —“ ues
cellulis ex substantia gonimica convoluta transverse hyalino-
zonatis;” also P.lurida,thus described—‘“Substantia gonimica
fascize-formi sub-convoluta,’ may belong here; but without
seeing fresh specimens of the plants so named by Kiitzing, it
would be impossible certainly to decide. Having thus elimi-
nated Palmoglea Roemerzana, P. monococca, P. endospira, and
P. closteridia, and possibly P. rupestris and P. lurida, the
. remaining forms included in this genus by Kiitzivg probably
belong to one or other of two further apparently naturally dis-
tinguished generic types, and these, indeed, so far as I can see,
are the only two alluded to by De Bary. These are—

(4) Cylindrocystis (Menegh.), and—

(5) Mesotenium (Nag.).

Both these, as previously indicated, agree with the fore-
going (P. Reomeriang excepted), as well as with each other, in
the elongate and elliptic or oblong form of the cells, but they
are distinguished from them and from each other by the struc-
ture of the cell-contents. In Cylindrocystis the cells possess
granular chlorophyll-green contents, and at the centre a paler
or less dense region. This clear central space is described by
De Bary, for C. Brébissonii, as rounded and four-cornered ;
to me it appears of extremely indefinite outline, if, indeed, it
can with propriety be said to possess a proper outline at all.
Within this occurs a nucleus, but not always evidently. Be-
yond it, at each side, occurs one, or, in longer cells, about to
divide, occur two somewhat elongate, apparently dense bodies
(starch-granules), from which radiate, in an irregular sub-
stellate manner, the general granular cell-contents. The
arrangement of the ctll-contents here reminds one very much
of that in Zygnema. Reproduction is by conjugation, and
evolution from the contents of the spore, in germination, of
four young cells the same as the parent.*

* De Bary, op. cit., p. 37, t. vii E., 18 — 22.

114 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

To this genus belongs clearly Palmoglwa Meneghinii
(Kiitz.)= Penium Brébissonii (Ralts) = Cylindrocystis Brébis-
sonit (Menegh.), the last being, doubtless, the correct apella-
tion. And not less certainly, I believe, does Tiichodictyon
ruprestre (Kiitz.) belong here. The species so named by
KKiitzing I believe to be identical with Cylindrocytis crassa
(De Bary) ; the remarkable mode of growth pointed out by
De Bary* not being constant, seems to decide that it is not
of sufficient importance to suggest the separation of this
species from Cylindrocystis, seeing that the external structure
seems to coincide. It is true, assuming that I am right in
my identification of this plant, that Kiitzing places it ina
genus by itself, distinct from his Palmogleea ; but the reasons
for this course are not founded on any essential peculiarities
of the cells themselves, or their mode of growth, but upon
external accidental circumstances, which, so far as I can see,
are in no way connected with the plant itself or its growth,
and consequently erroneously introduced into his conception
and definition of his genus. To indicate the circumstances
on which Kiitzing relies for his generic distinctions, I cannot
do better than repeat here his generic characters for Tri-
chodictyon:}+ —“ Phycoma amorphum gelatinosum; substantia
gelinea matricalis loculoso-vesiculosa; loculi fibris delica-
tulis reticulatim fasciculatis circumtexti celluliferi.” It will
be seen that Kiitzing relies here mainly for his generic cha-
racters on the filaments accompanying the cells being imter-
laced in a loosely reticulated manner, so as to leave white,
roundish interspaces, in which occur the large ovato-elliptic
cells, either singly or in one, two, or more pairs, surrounded
by their broad and copious, finally confluent, gelatinous coat-
ings. These filaments do not seem to differ from those
frequently growing along with other Palmoglcean and other
Palmellacean forms, nor do they seem organically connected
with, or in any way belonging to, the plant im question.
Similar filaments are by Kiitzing himself referred to Lepto-
thrix, or perhaps to Hypheothrix. In fact, it would here seem
as if it were only because these filaments often occur along
with this plant in great quantity, penetrating through the
mass, and because the cells themselves, during active vegeta-
tion, increase vigorously from numerous centres, and copiously
giving rise to their gelatinous investments (this taking place
pretty equably over the mass), that the filaments are forced
to give room, and become obliged to assume more or less of
a reticulated disposition. But that these filaments possess
no importance, nor any organic relationship, so far as I can

* Op. cit., p. 37, t: vi, C., 4—6, 9.

7 ‘Species Algarum,’ p. 250.

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 115

see, as regards the plant in question, is, I think, proved by
it being met with, as I have often found it (always supposing
that I am right in my identification of the species, of which,
indeed, I have myself no doubt) unaccompanied by filaments,
or these so sparing as to render Kiitzing’s description of the
plant as inappropriate as, so far as I can see, the introduction
of these filaments into the generic character at all is erro-
neous. In regard to his Cylindrocystis crassa, De Bary omits
any notice of such filaments altogether; yet, as I before
indicated, I believe these plants are identical.

But, in order to explain the occasionally occurring pecu-
liarity alluded to, in the mode of growth or self-division of
the cells themselves in this plant, dwelt on by De Bary, I
shall momentarily draw attention to that which prevails in
the entire of its allies, and then advert to the variation some-
times met with in this species itself.

In the related species of Penium, Spirotenia, Cylindrocys-
tis, and Mesotzenium (as well as those elongate, but apparently
not at all related, forms included in Gleothece (Nag.),
Stichococcus (Nig.), &c. &c., the direction of self-division
occurs always in a line at the middle, at right angles with the
original longitudinal axis of the mother-cell. Now, in Cylin-
drocystis Brébissonii, along with the elongation of a cell,
preparatory to self-division, a longitudinal extension and a
transverse subdivision of the central corpuscles belonging to
each of its halves take place, thus causing the now. two
corpuscles of each half to lie in the direction of, and on a
line with, the longitudinal axis of the original mother-cell.
Presently ensues a segmentation and division into two of the
cell itself at the middle, in the transverse direction, and, as
stated, in a line at right angles to the longitudinal axis, the
original nucleus vanishing, and a new one for each half, that
is, each daughter-cell, making its appearance, according to
De Bary. In C. crassa (De Bary) =Trichodictyon rupestre
(Kiitz.), previous to division of the cell itself, there is no
subdivision of the central corpuscle of each half, but on the
formation of a septum it seems to ensue. Its subdivision
may_take place then, either after the manner of C. Brébissonii,
in a transverse direction, causing the two new corpuscles to
lie in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the mother-
cell, that is, perpendicular to the new septum, o7 the sub-
division of the central corpuscle of each half of the mother-
cell may apparently take place in a direction on a line with
the longitudinal axis of the mother-cell, causing, in this case,
the two new corpuscles to lie in a direction perpendicular to
the original axis of the mother-cell, that is, parallel to the

VOL. IV.— NEW SER. I

116 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

new septum. Now, whichever of these cases holds good, the
elongation of each new cell seems to take place in the
direction of a line connecting the two new central corpuscles,
which always thus lie in the direction of the longitudinal
axis of every cell when about to divide, which always, as
before stated, takes place transversely, or in the direction of
the narrow diameter. Thus, in the former case, the re-
petition of the process of cell-division does not alter the
relative positions of the (so to speak) north and south poles
of the generations of cells, whilst in the latter case each
alternate repetition of cell-division changes the longitudinal
axis of each generation from running north and south to east
and west, and vice versd, in the following generation ; that is
to say, each repetition of the process presents a division of
the cell-generations according to two directions alternating
with each other at right angles. I do not imagine that these
two modes of behaviour possess any specific importance ;
further observation may determine if they have. The latter
mode seems, so far as my experience goes, to be the rarer;
whilst I fancy also the plants presenting it seem to be larger
usually than those which exhibit the former plan. The en-
dochrome in this plant is very dense and opaque, rendering it
a matter of great difficulty to discern a nucleus, or the
arrangements of the contents. It is perfectly distinct as a
Species, and constant, and the remarkable peculiarities of
which I have endeavoured to convey an idea strikingly
distinguish it from any of its allies. The plant is by no
means uncommon kere, though Kiitzing gives but one locality
—the Black Forest. De Bary does not say whether it is
common or rare, but I should argue from the context that it
is as common with him as here. So much, in passing, for the
genus Cylindrocystis.

I shall now advert to the last genus, Mesotzenium (Nag.).
Plate VI, figs. 1 to 31. In this genus the structure of the
cell-contents is different from any of the foregoing. Here
there runs, either directly through the longitudinal axis of a
cell or sometimes slightly excentrically, a more or less
compressed, sharply defined, dense ‘‘chlorophyll-plate” (often,
however, difficult to be detected, I believe, owing only to
being hidden by the remainder of the contents), whose
margin either touches the cell-wall or leaves a more or less
wide intervening space. When the remaining contents are
not too dense and abundant to permit its being readily
perceived, this chlorophyll-plate, when its edge is towards the
observer, appears either, in some species, like a narrow,
vertical, axile, green band, swollen at the middle at each side,

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 117

and reaching entirely from end to end of the cell, or, in
others, as a somewhat lenticular body, thus, in this edge view,
presenting a fusiform outline, and not reaching to the cell-
wall at each end (figs. 2 to 6). In the middle of the chloro-
phyll-plate there is usually a starch-granule within the
central projection or swelling-out. If a cell seen from the
point of view showing thus the edge or lateral view of the
chlorophyll-plate be caused to make a quarter of a revolution
on its longitudinal axis, the chlorophyll-plate presents its
broad or front surface to the observer, provided it be not
obscured by the too dense remaining contents, when it is
seen to be (of course less intensely, but) uniformly green.
De Bary describes for M. Braunii this chlorophyll-plate to be
minutely toothed at the margin; but, so far as I can see, if
I be right in my identification of the plant, it would, perhaps,
be more correctly described as irregularly crenate. Excep-
tionally and rarely, the chlorophyll-plate possesses three (or
four, De Bary) planes, presenting in end view a triradiate (or
quadriradiate) figure. The remainder of the cavity of the
cell may be apparently entirely filled by a rather coarsely
granular, peculiarly coloured endochrome, or it may be
destitute of it, or nearly so, possessing then, besides, only
watery or colourless contents. In the latter case, indeed, is
the chlorophyll-plate best seen ; and then only, or when the
granular endochrome is but sparing, can it be discerned at all
in front view. But in certain species an intermediate con-
dition appears to be the most common; that is to say, the
whole of the remaining cavity of the cell is not filled by the
granular endochrome, but the latter forms only a parietal
layer, sometimes somewhat sharply defined within, and
leaving a clear intermediate space between it and each broad
or front surface of the chlorophyll-plate. In M. violascens
(De Bary), about the middle of the parietal layer, at one side,
there may be often seen a little depression. This sometimes
contains a little corpuscle or granule; but I have by no
means always, or indeed often, been able to detect it. De
Bary considers this a nucleus. In M. Braunti, and his /.
chlamydosporum, this nuclear body seems to be in contact
with the plate. In this genus, when a cell has attained the
full length proper to the species, self-division sets in, As in
all the elongate forms, here also the line of division takes
place transversely, cutting the cell into two in a line at right
angles toits longitudinal axis. A division of the chlorophyll-
plate either precedes it or is apparently affected by it,
according to the species. In young daughter-cells, imme-
diately after division, when the central corpuscle is to be

118 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

seen, it occupies in each a place near the septum ; by and by,
each is again found at the middle of its chlorophyll-plate, both
as regards the longitudinal and transverse diameters. Re-
production in this genus, as in Cylindrocystis, is by conjuga-
tion and evolution from the spore-cell, in germination of four
young cells identical with the parent.* In this genus,
however, the foregoing characters are in some species often
not easy of application, owing to the density of the granular
cell-contents obscuring a proper view of the internal struc-
ture, and to the specimens not being in a conjugated state.

Such, as briefly as I can convey it, is some account of the
genus Mesotenium (Nag.), the last of the genera into which
Palmogleea (Kiitz.) seems capable of being divided. Un-
doubtedly the three principal, and those most nearly related
to each other, are Spirotenia, Cylindrocystis, and Mesotz-
nium; the two others above alluded to should, so far as I can
judge, have never found a place in Palmoglea. Of these
three, Spiroteenia may, I think, be said (as far, at least, as
regards the forms themselves) to bear a relationship to
Spirogyra similar to that which Cylindrocystis bears to
Zygnema, and possibly Mesotenium may be considered
to possess, in a great measure, a relatively similar relationship
to Mesocarpus or to Leptocystinema (mihi).

The query with which I commenced this paper suggested
itself to me after having searched for and having tried to
examine our Dublin forms included in Kiitzing’s genus, and
upon a reperusal of Alex. Braun’s remarks,* where that
author observes that “the species of the genus Palmogleea, as
established by Kiitzing, cannot be certainly determined
either by the characters given in ‘ Species Algarum,’ or by
the figures given in ‘ Tab. Phyc.’””? And he goes on to sa
that im the species represented by himself, which, doubtfully,
he calls P. macrococca, “ the jelly-like envelopes are some-
times distinguishable singly, sometimes not, which renders
doubtful even the section in which we are to seek the
species ;” and he afterwards expresses an opinion that several
of the species (citing six) will have to be combined as forms
of one and the same species. With that writer I must
concur in admitting the difficulty of identifying Kiitzing’s
forms, as well as even the uncertainty, as I before indicated,
in deciding the section in which we are to seek a particular
species. But I think it must be admitted that, seizing upon
other distinctions than those put forward by Kiitzing, abun-
dantly distinguishable forms, even generically separated, here

* De Bary, op. cit., p. 34, t. vii, 20—29.
7 Op. cit., p. 327.

‘ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 119

present themselves, as I have endeavoured to show. It
may indeed be quite probable that some of his forms are
described as distinct upon characters too trivial; thus I
would be disposed to suggest, altogether conjecturally, that
his P. vesiculosa and P. macrococca may be possibly identical
—P. lurida and P. rupestris—P. protuberans and P. ma-
crococca ; but in the main, so far as I can judge, the forms
generally referred to by him to this genus seem to be
distinct. On the other hand, I fancy that, as might be
expected, a few forms appertaining to Mesotznium, described
by Nageli and De Bary, do not occur at all in ‘Species
Algarum.’

In thus expressing an opinion as to the actuality and dis-
tinctness of these species, which I would wish to do very far
from dogmatically, I am not unmindful of the statements
made by writers as to the diamorphosis of these forms—that
is, as to their being more or less transitory conditions of
higher plants. But it, indeed, appears to me, that anything
as yet adduced in support of the transition of a true Palmo-
gloea—that is to say, of either a true Spirotenia, Cylindro-
cystis, or Mesotzenium—into or from any other plant is by
no means so conclusive as regards, an actual diamorphosis, as
are De Bary’s observations on their development from one
generation to another, through germination of the spore
formed by conjugation, apparently decisive as regards their
perpetuated identity and constancy. Kiitzing, indeed, speaks
of a transition of his P. protuberans into Scytonema,* and of
his P. vesiculosa into a Zygogonium ; but, very deferentially,
1 think his statements and figures are too meagre, in these
cases, to prevent great doubt as to the correctness of his con-
clusions ; besides, it is possible, indeed, that his plants thus
-ealled may not, strictly speaking, belong at all here. Again,
Dr. Hicks + draws attention to an elongate form of cell no-
ticed by him during the development of lichen-gonidia, and
which he considers nothing but a “ Palmoglea;” conse-
quently, he seems to come to the conclusion that all the
Palmogleea-forms are but conditions in the growth of the
gonidia of lichens. Far be it from me to doubt the accuracy
of Dr. Hicks’ very valuable and remarkable* observations ;
but, at least, so far as the forms of Cylindrocystis and Meso-
teenium (by whatever names they may pass) are concerned, I
would suggestively put it, that here, as elsewhere, resemblance
may by no means necessarily constitute identity. We are
not now so much astonished as formerly at remarkable cases

* © Phycologia Generalis,’ p. 178.
+ ‘Quart. Journ. of Mic. Science,’ vol. ii, n. s., pp. 17 and 20.

120 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

of homomorphism, even in organisms very high in the scale,
and well know that such sometimes do not indicate even any
affinity, not to speak of identity. And I should certainly be
disposed to imagine that homomorphs are not less likely to
occur in such simple plants as those under consideration
than in regard to the more complicated and elaborate organs
of higher existences, even in animal life. Dr. Hicks * speaks
of “large oval cells precisely similar to Palmogloea” (Kiitz.)
(Cylindrocystis, Menegh., Coccochloris, Hass.), as occurring
during the development of certain lichen-gonidia, and he
considers the oval cells represented in his figure + as “ visu-
ally identical”? with “ Palmoglea Brébissoni.’ If he means
by this Palmoglea Brébissonit (Kiitz.), which Kitzing makes
out to be identical with Palmella cylindrospora (Bréb.), which
latter Ralfs considers identical with his Penium Brébissonii,
then I am bound to say I cannot agree that Dr. Hicks’ form
is by any means “ visually identical” with that mdicated by
the names just quoted. That alluded to (Peniwm Brébis-
sonii, Ralfs) is undoubtedly a Cylindrocystis, and Hicks’
figure suggeststo one more the idea of a Mesotzenium, with the
broad side of the clorophyll-plate uppermost, but does not at
all call to mind a species of the former genus. If it be
assumed as presenting a form of Mesoteenium, the granular
endochrome, which so. often obscures the view of the chloro-
phyll-plate, seems to be very deficient, for the central cor-
puscle is to be seen in all the cells figured. ‘This central
corpuscle is regarded by Hicks as a nucleus; it would seem
far more probably to be merely a starch-granule, or a “ chlo-
rophyll-vesicle” (Nag.). In Cylindrocystis Brébissonii two
such granules occur in ordinary cells, and four in cells about
to divide, and they appear quite homologous and identical in
nature with the similar bodies occurring in Closterium, &c.
&e. If by Palmoglea Brébissonii is meant by Hicks Cocco-
chloris Brébissonii (Thwaites),{ although Thwaites’ descrip-
tion and figures hardly admit of a certain conclusion as to
whether any species more recently described by Continental
writers may be identical with it, yet Hicks’ figures do not at
all seem to me to be identical with, or even at all to resem-
ble, those of Thwaites. The former represent a rather
narrow, egg-shaped form, while the latter is described as
“‘cellulis subspheericis vel rotundato-ellipticis ;” and, setting
aside the scantiness of the accompanying filaments (which, as
1 before indicated, I conceive have no connection with the

* Tioe. ett., p. 17:

+ Ib., pl. a, figs. 11, 19.

x ‘Annals of Natural History,’ n. s., vol. iii, p. 243.

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 121

cells), Thwaites’ figures remind me more of Trychodictyon
rupesire (Kiitz.) = Cylindrocystis crassa (De Bary). But I
put this latter surmise forward merely suggestively. In point
of fact, Hicks’ figures do not seem to me absolutely identical
with any of the species described by De Bary, nor with any
I have myself encountered; and if, as the former states,
“the remainder of the British species of Palmogloea or
Coccochloris”’ (that is, exclusive of “ Palmoglea Brébissonii,”
of which, after all, he has doubts) “can certainly be produced
from Cladonia,’ he has as least not figured them, nor ex-
plained the process. But I do not suppose that Palmogloea
and Coccochloris are synonymous, or at least they are only
soi part. Itzigsohn,* I find likewise, makes the statement
that he cannot at all regard the “so-called Palmoglaa as in-
dependent organisms,” expressing a hope at some time, even-
tually, to publish the observation on which this assumption
is founded. This promised communication I have not been
able to hit upon. But surely the finding of “ Palmoglea”
or other forms in company with various alge is not—as I ven-
ture to fancy Itzigsohn, indeed, too frequently seems to
assume—any proof of a geneticrelationship. Again, I would
beg to say that I put forward the foregoing opinions merely
as those which have forced themselves on myself, and I trust
I may not be thought to have expressed them too dogmati-
cally or too confidently.
What, then, is Palmoglea macrococca (Kiitz.), as to the
identity of which Alexander Braun expressed so much
doubt? I certainly should consider that the plant figured
by himy is not the species in question. The former, un-
doubtedly Braun’s plant—for De Bary tells us he identified
it from the fresh and authentic specimens—has been since
described by the latter as Mesotenium Braunii. If this were
Kiitzing’s macrococca, I wonder how he could omit to notice
the striking “chlorophyll-plate.” M. Braunii differs from
Palmoglea macrococca (Kitz.) so far as Ktitzing’s descrip-
tions and figures permit us of judging, in its larger size,
shorter length in proportion to its width, and its more
broadly rounded extremities, and, if I be right in my identi-
fication of these plants, in several other more positive and
decisive characters, although to the accustomed eye these ex-
ternal marks will distinguish sufficiently readily, at least, our
Dublin forms. I do not think that P. macrococca, as Braun
supposes, is the same thing as Coccochloris Brébissonit

* Itzigsohn, ‘Skizzen zu einer Lebensgeschichte des Hapalosiphon Braunii,
p. 295. Weber, Bonn.
+ Loe. cit., pl. i and ii.

122 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

(Thwaites). According to Kiitzing, in the former the cells
are oblong-cylindrical, not, as in the latter, sub-spherical or
rotundato-elliptic. I before indicated that the latter (C.
Brébissonii, Thwaites) appears to me far more likely to be
the same plant as Trichodictyon rupesire (Kiitz.) = Cylindro-
cystis crassa (De Bary).

P. macrococca is not the state figured by Hicks of his
lichen-gonidia; for in the former the cells are oblong-cylin-
drical, not ovate, setting aside the fact that the latter is
nothing but what may be called a homomorphic representa-
tive of that which I am as yet forced to regard as a true
species.

I feel satisfied that P. macrococea is not the plant so named
by Grunow,* of which that writer describes “ the cell-con-
tents, in certain cases, as exactly like those of Zygnema
cruciatim, or Desmidium ;” also thata “nucleus, and im each
cell-half a starch-vesicle, were to be observed.” © Moreover,
we must infer from the context that his plant occurred sub-
merged in water. These characters combine in indicating
that it was not a Mesotenium, but a Cylindrocystis, which
Grunow must have had under observation—possibly C. Bré-
bissonii ; but we are without any figure to assist in this de-
termination. Now, I think there can be no doubt but that
Palmoglea macrococca is at all events a Mesotenium, and
not a Cylindrocystis; for those known Palmoglea-forms
which actually appertain to Cylindrocystis can be best iden-
tified with forms separately described under other names by
Kiitzing.

Since this paper was read I have obtained Rabenhorst’s
lately published ‘ Cryptogamic Flora of Saxony’ (and adja-
cent countries). Now, I have here again to remark, with
every deference, that I cannot concur in considering the
plant figured by this author as truly P. macrococca (Kiitz.).+
Rabenhorst’s figure certainly appears to represent the form
named Mesotenium violascens by De Bary, and, if it really
represented the species it is called (P. macrococca), De Bary
would appear to be right in supposing their actual identity.
But surely it will be admitted that the narrow cylindrical
plant represented by Kiitzing is quite a different thing from
this stout, broadly elliptic form? Yet Rabenhorst describes
P. violascens separately,t and considers the former (P.

* © Verhandlungen der k. k. zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien,’
1858, p. 489. Grunow, ‘ Die Desmidiaccen und Pediastreen einiger dster-
reichischen Moore.’ .

+ ‘ Kryptogamen-Flora von Sachsen,’ &c., 150.

£ Op. cit., p. 167.

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 123

macrococca) equivalent to M. Braunii (De Bary) ; but if the
figures given by Rabenhorst be compared with those of M.
Braunii given by De Bary, it will be seen that the former
represent a broadly elliptic, the latter a cylindrical, form.
Indeed, I consider that Rabenhorst’s figures said to repre-
sent “ P. macrococca”’ seem actually to be copied from De
Bary’s figures of M. violascens. As to Rabenhorst’s descrip-
tion of ‘ P. macrococca,”’ an objection to be made to it seems
to be that it is not sufficiently in detail, as the characters
given would as well apply to two or three apparently distinct
species; nor do the characters agree with the figures (seeing
that they represent violascens). And as to the validity of
their distinctions, I would beg observers to suspend their
judgment, at least until careful examination be made of the
fresh specimens. In regard to the generic characters given
by Rabenhorst for Palmogleea, they are intended to include
only, and to be restricted to, the forms appertaining to Meso-
tenium (Nag.), while Cylindrocystis (Menegh.) is included
in Penium (Bréb.). But, as I have before pointed out, Cylin-
drocystis seems sufficiently well characterised as a distinct
genus. The statement as to the constant incorporation of
cell-wall and -contents in the act of conjugation must be modi-
fied as regards Mesotenium, as will be seen by the descrip-
tion in this paper.

Of the three species of Mesotzenium described by De Bary,
I have above indicated that I believe the P. macrococca
could not have heen Mesotenium Braunit (De Bary). The
narrow-cylindrical cells with rounded ends seem quite to
separate it from the broadly elliptic form, gradually diminish-
ing towards both ends, of M. violascens (De Bary).

I believe, then, it is more probable with M. chlamydos-
porum (De Bary) of properly described species, that the
identity of P. macrococca exists.

It is indeed to be regretted that in endeavouring to settle
the identity of the plant in question, from the insufliciency
of Kiitzing’s description, we have little else to go upon but
the external outline; yet the genus being known, I must
hold to the opinion that this is by no means unimportant,
and there can be no doubt but that the genus here is Meso-
tenium. After some search in our Dublin and Wicklow
hills, I have succeeded in finding, and pretty certainly iden-
tifying by De Bary’s description, his three species of that
genus; and in my opinion M,. chlamydosporum is the only
one which suits Kiitzing’s (indeed but vague) description of
the debated plant. They are both cylindrical, with rounded
ends, and coincide pretty nearly in the measurements, and

124 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

are common, whilst the gelatinous mass is rather firm—thus
agreeing with Kiitzing’s character in that regard, upon which
he lays so much importance. His Palm. protuberans and
Palm. macrococca are much smaller plants. I believe I have
found here one or both, but Ihave not as yet been at all able
to satisfy myself as to their actual nature. It seems proba-
ble that the Coccochloris protuberans (Spreng., Hass.) may
be identical with P. macrococca.

But here any further power of comparison of Kiitzing’s
and Braun’s plants ceases, owing to the meagre description of
the former. As to the possible identity of any other of
Kiitzing’s forms with P. macrococca or others, I have here-
inbefore ventured to express a conjecture.

But the plant I identify as M. chlamydosporum (De Bary),
or which, perhaps, I believe I might possibly be more correct
in assuming as a variety thereof, I had at first thought to be
a distinct species, and so, indeed, it may possibly still prove to
be; and I had, when this paper was read, drawn up a descrip-
tion of it as such; but if I err in modifying my former opinion,
it is at least an error on the right side. I shall, however,
endeavour to put forward a general description of the plant
which occurs here, reserving an allusion to the points in
which it differs from De Bary’s, until after a brief reference
to the generally received views as to the affinities of the
genus.

MeEsoTmNIuUM CHLAMYDOSPORUM (De Bary). Var. f.

General description.—Mass light green, gelatinous, rather
firm ; cells oblong, cylindrical, ends broadly rounded ; chloro-
phyll-plate in edge view usually axile, narrow, fusiform,
pointed at the ends, which do not reach the extremities of
the cells, after division blunt at the ends towards the septum
dividing the mother-cell; nucleus, when to be seen, forming
a small rounded body, lying upon one of the front surfaces of
the plate; granular contents very dense and abundant, often
preventing the view of the chlorophyll-plate, which is there-
fore very rarely discernible in front view. Conjugation
effected by the extension and protrusion of the entire con-
tents, which touch and incorporate at any point, the parent.
cells uniting in many varieties of position, the original cell-
membrane of each being thrown off, in its almost original
form, each half often bent at an angle, as if due to a separa-
tion at a suture. Zygospore, at first shapeless or irregular,
assuming finally an ovate or elliptic outline, and becoming
surrounded by a comparatively thin, sharply defined mucous

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 125

envelope the cell-contents, very dense and coarsely granular,
the latter ultimately becoming considerably retracted from
the outer wall and surrounded by an inner, finally yellowish
or brownish coat, forming the actual spore, which presents to
view a four-, five-, or six-sided, or a somewhat circular outline,
sometimes somewhat flattened at certain sides, slightly en-
larged or thickened at the angles, and often presenting on
the general surface a slightly undulate or somewhat granular
appearance, due to the presence of little superficial promi-
nences. When showing four sides, I presume the inner spore
may be of a cubical or prismatie figure, and when five- or six-
sided, irregularly polygonal, but it appears sometimes of an
irregularly rounded, very indefinite form. I have not seen,
however, a triangular form.

Measurements.—Length of cell, 5, to —1,; breadth of
cell, =75,; length of zygospore, ;4, to ;4,; breadth, 1,
to <1, of an inch.

Plate I, fig. 1, cell in which the chlorophyll-plate cannot
be seen; either the remaining contents are too dense, or the
edge view of the plate is not towards the observer. Fig. 2
shows edge view of chlorophyll-plate, with nucleus (?). Figs.
3, 4, accidental forms and positions of the chlorophyll-plate.
Fig. 5, cell about to divide; the chlorophyll-plate divided ;
its immer ends bluntly rounded. Fig. 6, the cell divided.
Fig. 7, two cells about to conjugate. Fig. 8, two such cells
in contact, the parent-coats slipping off. Figs. 9 to 13, various
degrees of advancement of conjugation. Fig. 14, zygospore
formed, with mucous investment. Figs. 15 to 19, various
mature zygospores.

Now, as regards the position of the genus to which this
plant belongs, inasmuch as the mode in which the reproduc-
tive process is carried out in any organism is always—and
doubtless rightly—yregarded as of more importance than
vegetative structure in deciding affinity, the fact that in these
forms reproduction is by conjugation most strongly points to
a close relationship with the Desmidiaceze and with the
Zygnemaceze; and in this genus the process is essentially
that which characterises those families. On the other hand,
the gelatinous nature indicates considerable affinity with the
Palmellacez ; but, with the exception of Palmogloea, I am
not aware of conjugation having been found in any other genus
of that family, though zoospores occur in some, while in
regard to others Professor Kiitzing’s* and Dr. Hicks’ inte-

* Kiitzing’s “Die Umwandlung niederer Algenformen in héhere,’ &., pub-
lished in ‘Natuurkundige Verhandelingen van de hollandsche Maatschappij
der Wetenschappen an Haarlem,’ 1841.

126 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

resting observations render their truly autonomous character
doubtful, although I fancy each has been perhaps too hasty
and too comprehensive in his generalisations.

Clearly this genus and Cylindrocystis are very closely
related, and to whatever group one belongs so does the other.
By Nageli the genus Mesotznium is placed with the Des-
midiaceze, and by De Bary both those genera are classed in
that family. By the latter writer the Conjugate are divided
into three families—Mesocarpex, Zygnemeze, and Desmidiez
—their distinctions drawn from the mode as to special details
of the formation of the zygospore and of the development of
the young plants originating therefrom, distinctions I need
not more than allude to here. The distinctions based upon
the fact as to whether all the daughter-cells originating from
the germ-cell are again capable of self-division, or whether
one of the daughter-cells remains as a “ root-cell”’ incapable
of further self-division—the former characterismg the Des-
midiez, the latter the Zygnemacee—De Bary considers the
only decided pervading features absolutely separating these
two families. Mesocarpez are distinguished from both by
peculiarities in the formation of the zygospore itself. Suffice
it that the genera in question, as indicated by that author’s
original researches, in the mode of development, seem to
accord with the characters in that regard as specially apper-
taining to the Desmidiacez.

There is a character, however, which seems to pervade the
family Desmidiacez, and is certainly demonstrable in every
undoubted member of the group. I allude to the well-known
fact that the vegetative increase of a cell, or “frond,” is
effected by the formation of two new half-cells, which become
interposed between the older, so that the two newly produced
cells consist each of a new and old half-cell. Of course a
figured outline cannot be assumed as an essential, though it
is very frequent, and affords classificatory characters.

Is there any evidence of such a mode of cell-increase
in Mesotenium? I fancy there is. I refer to fig. 6, in
which the chlorophyll-plate is divided, and a division of the
cell itself is taking place. Then the two portions of the
chlorophyll-plate appertaining one to each daughter-cell, in
place of presenting in side, i.e. edge view, the somewhat fusi-
form figure, pointed at both ends, which is seen in a fully
grown cell, now show the end near the septum which halves
the mother-cell to be bluntly rounded. I conclude, therefore,
that its recovery of the fusiform and pointed outline at the
blunt ends may be due to a new growth onwards in that
direction, therefore accompanied by the growth of a new half-

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 127

cell, the older halves of each remaining unchanged. But I
imagine the probability of a new half to the chlorophyll-plate
being formed in continuation of an old one is strengthened by
the fact that in dividing cells, when discernible, the corpuscle
therein imbedded is found near the end towards the septum,
and in fully grown cells at the middle. I therefore suppose
it must be inferred that this change of position of the im-
bedded corpuscle is not due to any inherent movement of its
own, but to an elongation of plate and cell at the end nearest
to which it at first lies, or that at which division has only
recently taken place. A similar argument I before applied as
some proof of the Desmidian nature of my Leptocystinema
Kinahani.* Again, I have stated that in our present plant
(figs. 9 to 14), in the act of conjugation, a shedding of the
parent cell-wall takes place, accompanied by a splitting, as it
were, through a suture, indicating, as in the Desmidiacee,
the point of union of the half-cells. It may be worth noting,
too, that in Mesotenium chlamydosporum the free inner spore,
finally formed within the zygospore, seems to find a parallel
in the similar occurrence in Tetmemorus levis. All these
characters point strongly to the Desmidiacee.

But on the other hand, Mesotenium Braunii and M. vio-
lascens (De Bary) seem to conjugate by complete participation
of the parent-cell-membranes in the act; cases, too, in the
present plant are not rare in which the parent-membrane
cannot be detected, but it must, in such cases, have become
either lost or dissolved. Al. Braun + seems to consider that
the genus Palmoglea (Kiitz.) is more Palmellacean than
Desmidian, but thinks that the greatest distinction between
Cylindrocystis and Penium is the participation in the former
of the outer cell-membrane in the act of conjugation. But
our plant presents an example of a “ Palmogloea” in which
the cell-membrane does not co-operate in the conjugative
act.

But, except that they are Conjugatz, exhibiting, according
to De Bary’s researches, the character, dwelt on by him, of
capability of self-division in all the daughter-cells originating
from the zygospore, I do not exactly see that the species of
«“ Palmogleea” which fall under Cylindrocystis rank them-
selves under the Desmidiacez with the same amount of pro-
bability as regards the mode of growth alluded to. In other
words, I do not see that the same supposed evidence can be
so readily drawn from internal sources as in Mesotenium of
the addition of two new half-cells between the old ones in

* © Natural History Review,’ O. §., vol. v, p. 243.
+ Op. cit. (English translation), p. 135.

128 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

vegetative growth. It might be assumed, indeed, in Cylin-
drocystis Brébissonii, as cell-division is preceded by a division
of the central corpuscles belonging to each half of the parent-
cell, which now, therefore, contains four such, each equal in
size to each of the two former, and as those nearer the ends
seem to occupy the same relative position in respect of, and
distance from, the ends, as the original ones did at first—in
fact, apparently precisely the same situation—that the new
space provided for the accommodation of the two inner cor-
puscles is due to the addition at the centre of an extension of
the cell-wall, which, after divisision, forms the nev, half-cells.
But the central pale space is present throughout, and the
division of the corpuscles is preceded by their elongation, the
whole in the direction of the axis of the cell, as if this might
be due to a gradual external extension all over of both cor-
puscles and external wall. Indeed, in C. crassa (De Bary),
which, as hereinbefore spoken of, occasionally presents its
young recently divided cells elongating in a direction at right
angles to the longitudinal axis of the mother-cell, there
apparently takes place an elongation equally at both ends of
the nascent cells. Moreover, in this genus the parent-cells
seem to incorporate during conjugation, and do not split as if
at a suture, the zygospore finally free within the cavity formed
by the parent cells. But, again, the plants themselves seem
to have considerable affinity to the genus Penium (Bréb.); but,
as it seems to me, as Spirotznia, Mesotenium, and Cylindro-
cystis, as I have above endeavoured to point out, are dis-
tinguished from each other by their internal structure, so I
believe is Penium distinguished from those by its internal
structure. In Penium the granular contents form an axile
mass, sending out all round in some species more or less
irregularly divided, or in other species quite uninterrupted,
plates to the cell-wall, which appear outwardly as more or
less interrupted, or irregular, or tolerably uniform longitudinal
bands, in end view radiate; but in these and other respects,
as regards the species, characteristically disposed, and of
course often containing starch-granules, or “ chlorophyll-
vesicles.” This is briefly the character distinguishing this
from the three other genera we have been considering. It is
undoubtedly Dismidian. Although Spirotenia has always
also been so considered, as already said, conjugation has not
been seen in it.

Such then is, so far as I can see, and as briefly as I can
put it, the state of the case as regards the position of the
Palmogloean species. Whether they be regarded as Desmi-
dians, or as connecting that family with the Palmellacez, or

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 129

what place amongst the algze near them they may be even-
tually thought to hold, they appear to me, at least, very well
distinguished as genera and species.

Reverting now to the description of our plant given above,
I would just compare it with that of De Bary’s M. chlamydo-
sporum. It will be seen that our plant disagrees with that
alluded to, in that it seems to possess a more dense and more
coarsely granular endochrome—that during division the
parent-membrane does not seem to be cast off as a free pelli-
cle, cap-like, from the ends of the old cells—that the zygo-
spore is ovate, not quadrate—that it becomes surrounded by
a definitely bounded mucous investment, and that, prelimi-
nary to the process of conjugation, the parent-cell-membrane
is cast off (figs. 8 to 14). On the other hand, it agrees in
the general form and dimensions of the cell, which in both
are cylindrical with rounded ends, in the form of the chloro-.
phyll-plate, and in the ultimate contraction’ of the contents
of the zygospore within the primary external coat, and the
formation of a new one of an angular figure closely investing
the inner actual spore (figs. 15 to 19). This latter process
does not take place for some time after conjugation and the
formation of the external coat; hence I at first rather too
hastily assumed that it did not occur in our plant. How-
ever, I have met with numerous specimens presenting this
character, which is, perhaps, sufficient to establish the specific
identity of the plants in question. This plant, then, seems
to be most likely the Palmoglea macrococca (Kiitz.).

Perhaps it may not be unworthy mentioning, in case these
forms may occupy the attention of observers elsewhere, that
the only character which occasions doubt to myself as to the
identity of the plant which occurs here, and which I conceive
to be M. Brauniti (De Bary), Braun’s plant referred to in his
‘Rejuvenescence’ is that of the colour of the mass. De
Bary describes it as dark green, and he afterwards speaks of
the special definitely bounded gelatinous investments of the
cells present before the whole mass becomes seemingly con-
fluent into a homogeneous mucus, as being of an intense,
often dark, gray-violet colour. Now, my plant is of a red-
dish-brownish hue in the mass, somewhat like that of an in-
fusion of tea, but deeper and richer; the tint is deeper at
the outside of the mass, and the colour is due to that of the
gelatinous matter, and not to the cells themselves; but the
form, structure, and appearance of the latter, under the
microscope, seem, so far as I can judge, entirely to coincide
with De Bary’s figures and descriptions of his M. Brauniz.

I now proceed to describe, as best I can, a form I consider -

130 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

a new and distinct species, though without the conjugative
state, but which presented to me a very remarkable condition
not before noticed in this genus. But although thus appa-
rently rare, I cannot suppose it confined to the following
form—in other words, 1 would not describe it as distinct on
that account. I shall defer an account of the condition
alluded to the general description of the species.

Mesot#£NIUM MIRIFICUM (mihi, sp. nov.).

Specific characters.—Cells broadly elliptic; chlorophyll-_
plate in edge view very narrow, often curved.

Habitat.—Like the former, wet rocks, but very rare.

Locality. Between Loughs Luggelaw (or Tay) and Dan, -
near Ballinrush.

General description—Mass pale yellowish-green, gelati-
nous; cells broadly elliptic; chlorophyll-plate in edge view
very narrow, excentric, not rapidly attenuated to the extre-
mities, which are not acute, and do not quite touch the cell-
wall, often curved ; endochrome dense.

I have observed the cell-contents bounded by the “ pri-
mordial utricle”’ escape from the parent-cell without conju-
gation, through a lateral or terminal or intermediately dis-
posed opening, effected by the raising up and often separation
of a lid or valve-like portion of the parent-cell-membrane
(figs. 22 to 81). During this operation the contents are
often much constricted, by reason of the narrow orifice
through which the mass makes an exit. After emergence it
becomes rounded, and the contents of this resting-spore-like
body (figs. 24, 25), which do not conjugate or combine with
any other, become of a reddish-brown hue, with a dark cor-
puscle in the centre. The empty parent-cell-membrane lies
hard by, the lid-like structure sometimes apparently still
adherent by one point—sometimes wholly detached, and
lying about in various positions, or lost altogether (figs. 22
to 31).

What may be the fate of these resting-spore-like bodies I
cannot say; but to my mind they form an additional reason
for dissenting from Hicks’ conclusion, already referred to,
that ‘‘ Palmogloea-forms”’ are any condition of developing
gonidia of lichens. Somewhat similar spore-like bodies are
sometimes formed in Zygnema—one such from the entire
cell-contents of one cell—and they escape from the parent-

cell through a lateral opening into the surrounding water ;

ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA. 131

but I have not observed in Zygnema that the opening by
which they escape is produced by their raising up a portion
of the cell-membrane as a lid or valve-lhke structure, which
forms so remarkable a feature in this Mesotenium. Similar
“vesting cells,” not resulting from conjugation, are described
by De Bary in a Zygnema,* distinguishable from the
“spores” by their more cylindrical figure, and which germi-
nate into young plants. But in this Mesotznium this “lid ’’
does not form a specially formed cap (so to speak), like that,
for instance, in some species of Chytridium (Braun), there
for the exit of zoospores, but seems to be merely a small
portion of the cell-membrane pushed up from within at any
point. This “lid,” however, is of a somewhat sharply de-
fined outline, and of a rounded figure, as it were cut out,
and not produced by a rough bursting or tearing; and yet
there can be no suture, the line of separation taking place in
the most varied directions and positions, between transverse,
oblique, and vertical. It is well known that somewhat simi-
lar spore-like bodies are formed by the individualization of
the whole or a portion of the cell-contents in some Desmids,
in Spirogyra (here beset with spine-like extensions), &c., but
they do not seem to have been noticed as yet as being even-
tually set free; and ifthey are so, it must be by the breaking
up of the original cells, for no special opening seems to occur,
if, indeed, those alluded to be not possibly really internal
parasitic growths. Therefore, so far as I know, the only
apparent parallel for the curious phenomenon in this plant is
the probably similar bodies which occur in Zygnema just
alluded to. But they are possibly structures of an analogous
nature.

I do not at all suppose that the apertures here left by the
raising off of the lid-like portions of the cell-wall are by any
means to be regarded as for the purpose of admission of sper-
matozoids—that is, these spore-like bodies have no resem-
blance to the germ-cell (oospore or Befruchtungskugel, Pring-
sheim) of Gidogonium. Nothing of the sort was apparent,
nor is it to be looked for or expected. The true generative
act, as I regard it, is found in these species in that of conju-
gation.

Measurements.—Length of cell, -1; to =4,; breadth, 4,
to +>; diameter of spore-like body averages about =>; of
an inch.

Fig. 20, cell showing edge view of chlorophyll-plate ;
figs. 21, 22, 23, cell-contents emerging; figs. 24, 25, cell-
contents emerged, and balled together into a spore-like

Op. cit., p. 10, t. viii, 13.
VOL. IV.— NEW SER. K

132 ARCHER, ON PALMOGL@A MACROCOCCA.

body, of a reddish colour; figs. 26 to 31, various empty cell-
membranes, showing the valve or lid-like portion detached.

Affinities and differ ences.—This is the only species I am
acquainted with which reaches the size of M. Braunii, but it
differs from that in the pale colour of the mass, in the
broadly elliptic, not cylindrical cells, in the much narrower
chlorophyll-plate in edge view, in this not being proportion-
ately so much expanded at the ends or at the middle, in its
not reaching the extremities of the cells, and in its being
more frequently eccentric and somewhat curved. It more
resembles M. violascens in figure ; but it is of larger size and
different colour, the chlorophyll-plate in edge view is nar-
rower and more pointed, the cells are not so broadly rounded
at the ends, the endochrome is less dense, but more scattered,
and the parietal layer not so well marked. It is distinguished
from M, chlamydosporum by its elliptic, not cylindrical, out-
line, by its greater width in proportion to its length, by its
not shedding its coat during division. Its elliptic, not eylin-
drieal, figure, and densely gelatinous habit, separate it from
M. Endlicherianum (Nag.). I do not set any distinctive
value on the remarkable phenomenon of the extrusion of the
eell-contents through a valvular opening, as I conceive,
whatever it portend, there may be nothing to prevent a simi-
lar occurence im any other species.

While I have to apologise for the discursive tendency m7
rather irregular arrangement of this paper, I am, at the same
time, indeed, well aware that there is far more in it that is
not new than that is so, and that the former has already been
much better laid down by De Bary than I could ever hope or
pretend to do; but the former was necessary to illustrate
and elucidate the latter, and I know of no English work in
which, as I imagine, these plants are properly described,
Therefore I consider that the little that is new in these re-
marks will not be without its value as a contribution, small
though it be, towards an eventually more correct acquaint-
ance with these humble and obscure organisms, occupying
so lowly a corner in the great domain of the vegetable
kingdom.

REVIEWS.

Transactions of the Linnean Society.

In the last Part of the ‘Linnean Transactions ’* are several
papers of considerable interest to the microscopical observer.

I. The first paper in the Part is one by A. Hancock and
the Rev. Al. M. Norman, ‘On Splanchnotrophus, an unde-
scribed Genus of Crustacea, parasitic in Nudibranchiate
Mollusca.’

In their ‘Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mol-
lusea,’?’ Messrs. Alder and Hancock noticed three or four
forms of Entomostraca found infesting the Nudibranchs;
but partly from want of sufficient materials at the time and
for other reasons the subject of these parasites was not pur-
sued. Having recently, however, obtained a fresh supply of
specimens of two of the forms, Mr. Hancock and Mr. Norman
proceed to give as complete a description of them as they are
able from the limited number of specimens at their com-
mand.

Some of these parasitic crustacea, one species of which is
figured in the above monograph, in Pl. XLV, fig. 10, and
which was taken in Antiopa cristata, and referred to the
genus Ergasilus, though subsequently constituted by Leydig
into a distinct genus Doridicola, are active little beings,
“which flit about from place to place on the surface of the
infested animals, or anchor themselves by their long pre-
hensile antenne amidst the gills of Doris, or the papille of
Eolis.”

But the subjects of the present paper are not these agile,
sprightly forms, but certain ill-formed and monstrous-look-
ing creatures, which live constantly attached to one place,
and are almost motionless.

“Two species of these curious animals have occurred.

* Vol. xxiv, Part 2. 1863.-

134 TRANSACTIONS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY.

Both are internal parasites, lying buried within the visceral
chamber of their victims. The minute caudal extremity,
and the ovigerous sacs of the female, however, appear at the
surface.”

One species was obtained in Doris pilosa, from the coast
of Devonshire, and has since also occurred in J/dalia aspersa,
taken on the west coast of Ireland. The other species has been
found in Eolis rufibranchialis and Doto coronata, captured on
the shores of Northumberland. The characters of the genus
Splanchnotrophus are thus given :—

Female.—Head and thorax either blended into a single
segment, the thoracic portion of which is furnished on either
side with unarticulated arm-like appendages or lobes, or the
first part only of the thorax is united with the head, and the
last part forms a second but comparatively minute seg-
ment. In this case, however, all the thoracic appendages
are attached to the first segment. First antenne minute
and few jointed; second larger, in the form of prehensile
hooks. Labrum large, overhanging the mandibles, which
organs, together with the maxille and two pairs of foot-jaws,
are minute and crowded round the mouth. Thoracic feet
two pairs, minute, simple, or two-branched, terminating in
hooks. Abdomen two-jointed, the last joint ending in two
caudal appendages, which are furnished with one or two
simple sete. Ovigerous sacs elliptical.

Male.—Minute. Cephalothorax without lateral append-
ages, and divided into four segments, the first of which bears
the two pairs of thoracic feet.

The genus belongs to the family Chondracanthide, and
its most remarkable characteristic, as pointed out by the
authors, is the ‘‘ degree of development of the thorax in the
male.’ Posterior to the two pair of foot-jaws, and, like them,
attached to the cephalothoracic segment, we find two pairs
of feet, the representative appendages of two thoracic seg-
ments; and posterior again to these, and between them and
the first abdominal or genital segment, there are three dis-
tinct segments; and these constitute, therefore, the third,
fourth, and fifth ofthe thorax. We search in vain throughout
the whole order of the Peecilopoda for an analogous instance
of thoracic development.

Two species are then described, viz. :—

1. Splanchnotrophus gracilis. In Doris pilosa and Idalia
aspersa ; and

2. S. brevipes, found in Doto coronata, and EH. rufibran-
chials.

Of the former species several females were obtained ; but

TRANSACTIONS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY. 135

never more than one individual is found in the same “ Nudi-
branch, and this invariably occupies the same position, rest-
ing upon the under surface of the liver-mass, and embracing
two thirds of it with its long attenuated lateral processes.
The under surface of the parasite is pressed to the liver; the
anterior extremity forward, and the posterior extending as
far back as the region of the branchial circle; here the two
last segments of the body penetrate the skin of the Nudi-
branch to which they are firmly attached.” “It is a remark-
able fact, that this penetration and an attachment always
takes place within the branchial circle; and consequently,
the ovigerous sacs must float amidst the plumes, and be
always exposed to the constant flow of water brought thither
by the branchial cilia.

- The males are more numerous and much smaller than the
female, and generally several are associated with each
female. ‘They always live immediately beneath the skin,
either adhering to the viscera” or “the female’ They are,
curiously enough for an internal parasite, furnished with an
eye; the reason for which is explained by the circumstance
that, as they undoubtedly enjoy a limited degree of loco-
motion, they might lose themselves among the viscera, in
the interior part of the body, had they not an organ which,
however low in organisation, yet suffices to guide them
towards the surface, immediately beneath the skin, where
the female resides permanently. attached. The habits of
S. brevipes appear to be very similar.

Both species are “‘ remarkable for their great size, in com-
parison with the animals they infest. S. gracilis is not very
much shorter than the liver upon which it lies ;” whilst
S. brevipes occupies nearly one third of the visceral cavity of
D. coronata. The Nudibranchs, however, seem perfectly un-
conscious of the presence of the insidious foe.

II. The second paper is by Mr. Lubbock, being the first
part of an “ Account of the Development of Chlocon (Ephe-
mera) dimidiatum.” This account is preceded by some
“Introductory remarks with reference to the number and
nature of the changes undergone by Insects in the course of
development from the egg upwards.”

After referring to the “ opinion general among entomolo-
gists, that we may observe four distinct periods of exist-
ence in every insect, viz., those of the egy, the larva, the
pupa, and the imago,” he observes that “these differences re-
late only to what we see in insects after birth; while if we
are to treat the question in a philosophical manner, we must

136 TRANSACTIONS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY,

examine the development as a whole, from the commence-
ment of the changes in the egg up to the final completion of
the animal, and not suffer ourselves to be misled by the cir-
cumstance that insects do not all leave the egg in the same
stage of embryonal development.”

After quitting the egg, the general opinion of entomolo-
gists is, that the life may be divided into three periods, each
marked by a change of skin and an alteration of form.

Mr. Lubbock, however, wishes to show “that in several
insects there #8 no such well-marked, threefold division; and
that in Ephemeride at least the young insect gradually
attains its perfect condition through a series of more than
twenty moultings, each accompanied by a slight change of
form.’

He then proceeds to cite instances already observed of ex-
ceptional cases to the assumed uniformity, and says that we
shall probably find that there are far more variations from it
than most people are at present prepared to accept.

Amongst the Coleoptera are cited the curious and compli-
cated metamorphoses of Meloc and Sitaris, described by
Newport and by Fabre. Amongst the Diptera is noted the in-
teresting case of “‘ Pupipara”’ and Lonchoptera. In the
Physapoda is noticed the case of Thrips. In the Homoptera
he has satisfied himself of the existence of at least five well-
defined stages in Typhocyba. Whilst in Aphis there are at
any rate more than three.

“Tf,” he says, “ we now attempt to ascertain the secondary
laws which regulate the form under which any given family
of insects is hatched, we shall find that the whole develop-
ment being, in a certain sense, in all cases the same, the
rapidity with which the different organs are developed varies
in different insects; and that the condition at birth depends
partly on the group to which it belongs, but perhaps still
more on the manner in which it is to live.

“Thus those larvee which are internal parasites, whether
in animals or plants, belong to the vermiform state; and the
same is the case with those which are intended to live in
cells, and to depend on their parents for food. On the other
hand, those larvee which are to burrow in wood have strong
jaws and somewhat weak thoracic legs; those which are to
feed on leaves have the thoracic legs more developed.”

A remarkable instance of this kind of adaptation of organi-
sation to habits is seen in the case of Melvé and Sitaris.
among the Coleoptera. ‘The insects of this group are at
first active, hexapod larvee; but having introduced themselves
into the cells of Hymenoptera, they undergo a retrograde

TRANSACTIONS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY. 137

metamorphosis, lose their legs, and emerge as grubs not
altogether unlike those whose places they have usurped.
When an insect is destined throughout life to exist in the
same manner and to use the same food, then it leaves the egg
with the principal organs constituted in the same manner as
in the imago.”

Several apparent exceptions to this are cited, and a satis-
factory explanation of most of them is afforded.

Having thus described the degree of change which takes
place after birth, the manner in which it is effected is next
considered, and shown in great measure to depend upon the
circumstance whether the organs undergoing change continue
or not in a state of functional activity. It is rendered ob-
vious that, in the former case, the changes must be slow and
gradual, so as not to interfere too much with the performance
of the functions; whilst in the latter they may be rapid, and
accompanied with only one or two changes of skin, though
necessarily accompanied with a period of quiescence. This
is well exemplified in the instance of Lepidoptera, “‘in which
a mouth originally mandibulate is destined to become suc-
torial. Any gradual change in such a case would be incon-
venient or impossible; the insect might starve in the mean.
time. Here, therefore, it becomes desirable that the change
should be rapid.”

III. On the Hairs of Carcinas menas. By W. C.
M‘Tntosh.

This communication is an elaborate account of the appear-
ance and structure, as seen under the microscope, of the
hairs, or, more properly speaking, hair-like appendages found
on different parts of the surface, both external and internal,
of the common shore-crab, and as such will be interesting to
the microscopist ; more so, in fact, to him than to the physi-
ologist, for there is no attempt made, which is much to be
regretted, to conjoin with the morphology some account of
the physiological peculiarities which they doubtless possess,
of these appendages. The tactile or sentient property pos-
sessed at any rate by many of the hairs in the Crustacea has
already, however, been the subject of various memoirs by M.
Lavalle, Holland, Heckel, and more especially of Mr. Camp-
bell de Morgan, who has shown conclusively their intimate
relation to the nervous system.

Dr. M‘Intosh appears to entertain doubts as to the audi-
tory functions of the peculiar organ at the base of the internal
antenne, but in this we think there is now but. little room
for dispute; . bis) mine

1388 TRANSACTIONS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY.

IV. The fourth paper in this rich part of the ‘ Linnean
Transactions’ is by Mr. H. C. Bastian, ‘On the Structure
and Nature of the Dracunculus or Guinea-worm.”’

Notwithstanding the numerous attempts that have been
made to clear up the minute structure of the Guinea-worm,
some of the main points still remained in considerable obscu-
rity. Mr. Bastian, in the paper before us, goes far to remove
this, and has added greatly to the knowledge we previously
possessed respecting the conformation and probable nature
of this the most important of human parasites.

After a brief description of the well-known external cha-
racters, we have an account of the minute structure of the in-
teguments, in which the author differs a good deal from pre-
vious writers on the integument of annelid animals.

In the Guinea-worm, he says, the integuments are com-
posed of a transparent, almost structureless chitinous sub-
stance, arranged in a number of concentric lamelle, presenting
peculiar linear markings. He denies the existence of any-
thing like a corium, though, with something like a contradic-
tion in terms, he regards the integument as ‘‘ composed of
successive excreted epidermic layers.” If there is no dermis,
how can there be an epidermis? His further description of
the structure of the integument in the Guinea-worm and
some other Nematoidea, as Ascaris lumbricoides and A.
mystax, is too long for extract, but is well worthy of attention.

With respect to the muscular system little is added to our |
previous knowledge, and what is said respecting the nervous
system leaves it much where it was. The “ water vascular
system,” he conceives, is represented by four equidistant,
iongitudinal vessels, which extend throughout the whole
length of the body, situated, like the [supposed] nervous
cords, in the midst of a pulpy substance beneath the peri-
toneal membrane. These canals, he thinks, have been mis-
taken by previous observers for nervous cords.

The mature Guinea-worm, as is well known, is crammed
full of embryos in all stages of development, and it has thence
by some been regarded as a sexual kind of “nurse.” It
was also known, from the observations of Leblond and
others, that the worm contained a slender intestinal tube,
terminating according to some, in an anus, but accord-
ing to others, with whom we fully agree, without any
such outlet. Mr. Bastian has, for the first time, shown the
true relations which subsist betweeen the embryogenous part
of the body and this intestine.

To all appearance the worm represents a simple tube filled
with young, but Mr. Bastian has shown very satisfactorily

TRANSACTIONS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY. 139

that the tube is not a simple one, but that the interior is
formed by an internal tube, formed of a distended uterus,
coequal in size with the calibre of the integuments throughout
nearly the entire length of the worm, but terminating at
either end in a slender prolongation, which he regards as the
ovaries. Like previous observers, he has been unable to
detect any external genital opening. He further shows that
the slender intestinal tube runs down between the wall of
this distended uterus and that of the body.

He then goes on to describe the structure of the young
Filariz, and traces their development from the earliest stages.
In these he has noticed two peculiar organs situated at the
junction of the anterior three fifths with the posterior two
fifths, and which seem to have altogether escaped the notice
of previous observers. They consist of two minute, globular
sacculi, embedded in the substance of the body behind the
anal opening, and communicating with the exterior by
narrow, short canals. Their nature is obscure, unless they
represent the rudiment of a water-vascular system.

V. Our space will hardly allow us to do more than men-
tion the title of a second communication from Mr. Lubbock,
‘On two Aquatic Hymenoptera, one of which uses its wings
in Swimming.”

“ On one of the early days in August,” he says, “I was
enjoying myself by watching the animals in a basin of pond-
water. It is customary to regard the inhabitants of fresh
water as less beautiful and varied than those of the sea. But
though our inland lakes and rivers can boast no _ sea-
anemones, no star-fishes, Medusz, shrimps, nor sea-urchins,
they are still full of beauty and variety. Without counting
the rarer forms, almost every weedy pool contains specimens
of Daphnia, Cyclops, Diaptomus, and Asellus (and he might
have added Branchipus), among Crustacea; the Hydra among
Polypes; the lovely green Volvov, and many other Algz,
besides numerous Desmidize and Diatomacee; with insects
almost innumerable. Besides the perfect insects, such as
water-beetles, Notonecta, Nepa, and other Hemiptera, there
are larvee of dragon-flies, beetles, Phryganeas and Ephemeras,
the beautifully transparent larve of Corethra, and many other
species of Diptera. But though most of the great orders are
more or less richly represented, no aquatic species of Hymen-
optera or Orthoptera had till now been discovered.” * *

“‘ Great, therefore, was my astonishment on the occasion
to which I allude, when I saw in the water a small, Hymen-
opterous insect, evidently quite at its ease, and actually
swimming by means of its wings. At first I could hardly

140 MRS, WARD, ON MICROSCOFIC TEACHINGS.

believe my eyes; but having found several specimens, and
shown them to some of my friends, there can be no doubt about
the fact. Moreover, the same insect was again observed, within
a week, by another entomologist, Mr. Duchess, of Stepney.”
“* * % “Tt is a curious coincidence that, after remaining
so long unnoticed, this little insect should thus be found
almost simultaneously by two independent observers.” Mr.
Walker at first considered the insect to be Pelynema fuscipes,
but though allied to that species, it is not identical with it,
the male having twelve joints in the antenne instead of thir-
teen. Though so completely aquatic in its habits as to be
found almost. always beneath the surface, it nevertheless re-
quires to come to the surface at certain intervals to renew the
air in its trachee. It seems, however, capable of remaining
immersed for at least twelve hours.

It is uncertain whether P. natans can also use its wings in
flight. They are at any rate not easily incited to do so.

The insect, like the rest of the genus, is doubtless parasitic
in the larval condition ; but nothing appears to be known of
this part of its history, which therefore remains an interesting
object of research. f

It is a very minute species and well fitted for microscopic
observation—the female measuring 0°38 inch, and the male
0:42. They were observed in a muddy pond from the he-
ginning of August to the end of September.

Microscope Teachings. Descriptions of various Objects of
especial Interest and Beauty, adapted for Microscopic
observations, &c. By the Hon. Mrs. Warp. 8vo, pp.
219. London: Groombridge and Sons. :

The demand for popular works on the microscope must ‘be
enormous, to judge from the numbers in which they are
produced ; scarcely a year passes without a new, little or big
book on the microscope, or its new edition of an old and
favourite author. And no wonder that it is so when we con-
sider the enormous number of instruments yearly produced
and sold. Every purchaser of a microscope, or nearly so,
will want some instructions in its use, or some easily under-
stood information about the various objects he sees through it.
Books consequently are produced to suit all tastes, from the -
scientific enquirer to the most-superficial observer, who uses

DAVIES, ON MOUNTING OF MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS. 141

the microscope simply for amusement. Among the numerous
popular works on the subject, few have appeared more worthy
of favour by the latter and very numerous class than the
present.

- In a short compass and in a few well chosen words, a con-
siderable amount of information suited for beginners is
conveyed on the mode of using the instrument itself, and of
mounting the more common kind of objects. And the
coloured illustrations, most if not all of which are stated to
be by the hand of the authoress, are really excellent of their
kind, and very well selected “ to present,”’ as she says in the
preface, “‘ these wonders successively to view in the manner of
apanorama.” ‘The utmost care,” it is said, “has been taken
to make the work strictly accurate in its statements and exact
in its pictorial representations of the objects déscribed,” and
our inspection of the book enables us to say that this care has
been well and successfully applied. We have observed few or
no errors, but a considerable amount of useful and instructive
information, conveyed in a lively and pleasing style.

On the Preparation and Mounting of Microscopic Objects.
By Tuomas Davirs. London: Hardwicke.

“ Mucu information,” as the author remarks, “ concern-
ing the preparation and mounting of microscopic objects, has
been already published, but mostly as supplementary chapters
only, in books written professedly upon the microscope.
From this,” he says, “it is evident that it is necessary to
consult a number of works in order to obtain anything like
a complete knowledge of the subject.” His own pages,
he says, “will be found to comprise all the most approved
methods of mounting, together with the results of the
author’s experience, and that of many of his friends, in every
department of microscopic manipulation; and as it is in-
tended to assist the beginner as well as the advanced
student, the very rudiments of the art have not heen
omitted.”

We will only observe, after carefully looking through Mr.
Davies’ work, that it appears to us a complete repertory of
all that concerns the subject upon which it treats. The direc-

142 DAVIES, ON MOUNTING OF MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS.

tions are given in a clear and precise manner, and the mode
of manipulation required for different classes of objects is
judiciously stated. Upon the whole, we may say that it is
the best and most complete work on the subject with which
we are acquainted, and one that will be found extremely
useful to all engaged with the microscope.

NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE.

Discussion on Spontaneous Generation at the French Academy.—
We take for granted that our readers are aware of the present
state of the controversy in France relative to the question of
spontaneous generation. M. Pouchet, in his important work
‘ Hétérogénie,’ had replied to all the objections which the
antagonists of spontaneous generation had previously made,
including those which were founded on the valuable researches
of Schultze. Professor Wyman, of Boston (U.S.), arrived
independently at the same conclusions as M. Pouchet, the
general result of his experiments being that the boiled
infusions of organic matter made use of, exposed only to air
which had passed through tubes heated to redness, or enclosed
with air in hermetically sealed vessels, and exposed to boiling
water, became the seat of infusorial life. M. Pasteur has
long been the leading opponent of this theory; and whilst a
series of experiments which he submitted to the Paris
Academy of Sciences some time ago met many of the
arguments which Pouchet had brought forward, he furthermore
stated that it was always possible to obtain, in a given
locality, an appreciable but limited amount of atmospheric air
not having undergone any sort of physical or chemical
modification, and nevertheless entirely unfit to produce any
alteration whatever in a liquid especially putrescible. MM.
Pouchet, Joly, and Musset, in their desire to meet this objec-
tion, ascended the glaciers of La Maladetta, near Rencluse, in
the Pyrenees, taking with them a certain number of flasks
each filled one third with an infusion of hay filtered and
boiled for more than an hour. No air was contained in the
flasks, and care was taken that they were hermetically closed.
Four of them were filled with air on the surface of the
glacier and four in a crevasse. The examination of four of
the flasks three days afterwards disclosed many specimens of
Bacteria, Monas, Vibrio, Mucedinea, and Ameba. They
state, however, in a note, that all the other retorts presented
identical results. From this the three experimentalists

144 MEMORANDA.

conclude that the air of Maladetta, and, in general, the air of
high mountains, does not fulfil the conditions which M.
Pasteur predicted of it. Atarecent meeting of the Paris
Academy M. Pasteur, fin vindication of his original theory,
made the following remarks :—‘‘ The attentive reader will
see that I do not make use in this discussion of the advantage
which my opponents give me by not speaking of Mucedine
and Infusoria 11 more than four of their eight flasks, a
circumstance which proves that the results which are stated
to be contradictory to my own in reality confirm them; and
this remark would lead one to suppose that the four flasks
alluded to contained neither Mucedinee nor Infusoria.

_At the meeting of the Academy on the 16th ult., a note
was read from M. Joly, stating that these four flasks did
contain organic matter, and that, if no mention of the circum-
stances was made in the note presented to the Academy, it
was simply a mistake of M. Musset, who prepared the paper.
« M. Pasteur,” continues M. Joly, ‘is entirely mistaken ; he
has judged us without hearing us; after having asked for
information respecting the four flasks, he did not allow him-
self time to receive an answer; if he had waited{one day more,
he would have been spared the contradiction we are forced
to give him.,”’

In announcing that M. Joly’s letter would be inserted in
the Comptes-Rendus, M. Flourens said— Several newspapers
have reproached me with not giving my opinion on sponta-
neous generation. AslongasI had not formed an opinion I
had nothing tosay. My opinion is, however, now formed, and
I will giveit. M. Pasteur’s experiments are decisive. What
is necessary for the production of animalcules if spontaneous
generation be a fact? Air and liquid susceptible of pu-
trescence. But M. Pasteur puts air and liquids susceptible
of putrescence together, and nothing happens. There is no
such thing as spontaneous generation. ‘T'o doubt any longer
is to misunderstand the question.”

M. de Quatrefages believed that, if the Academy were
going to institute further experiments, it would be necessary
that they should be carried on, not only in suitable localities,
but in several places successively ; for it followed from ex-
periments formerly undertaken by himself that germs or
sporules are so abundant in the atmosphere that it might very
well happen that a hundred or more vessels open in the same
place might all become the seat of microscopic products.

M. Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, who has repeated M.
Pasteur’s experiments before a numerous audience at his lec-
tures on chemistry at the Sorbonne, and has always found

MEMORANDA. 145

them perfectly exact, sisted on the necessity of following
with absolute accuracy the directions given by M. Pasteur,
directions which cannot be deviated from with impunity.

M. Regnault entirely supported M. H. Sainte-Claire De-
ville’s remark ; he had seen in his countless experiments on
the expansion of gas how, even in working with the mercury
trough, it was difficult entirely to prevent the introduction of
extraneous air; the laisser aller with which M. Pouchet had
carried out his first experiments had greatly astonished him.

M. Pasteur reminded the Academy that he had formerly
stated that the mercury trough was a receptacle of a multitude
of germs which it caused to enter into all the bottles and
tubes manipulated in it. .

M. Milne-Edwards begged that an important experiment
which he had previously referred to might not be forgotten.
A small capsule containing germs derived from the atmosphere
was floated on the surface of a liquid peculiarly susceptible of
putrescence, and the liquid, even after many days, remained
completely limpid and unaltered; afterwards, on overturning
the capsule, the liquid became impregnated in some way or
other, and at the end of a few days it was seen to be filled
with a multitude of organized products.

M. Pasteur and other members took this opportunity of
calling attention to the simpler and more decisive experiment
-—a real experimentum crucis—which consists in putting
side by side two flask with necks drawn out to a point, and
containing the same fermentable liquid, the open and slender
neck of the one flasks remaining straight and vertical, whilst
the slender and open neck of the other flask remained bent,
with the opening downwards. ‘The liquid of the first vessel
was soon invaded by microscopic vegetation, although often,
at least, the liquid of the second vessel remained entirely
unaltered.

M. Pasteur had attended the meeting of the Academy for
the purpose of exhibiting two flasks which he had filled with
air on the Mer de Glace, without the contents having been in
any way affected. After the meeting he met his colleague,
M. Frémy, in the library, and the latter asked him what
would happen if the neck of the vessel were broken. M.
Pasteur did not hesitate to reply, that Mucedinee,would soon
make their appearance. The neck of one of the flasks was
accordingly broken, and the flask itself placed in a corner of
the library. When M. Frémy and M. Pasteur returned
eight hours later, the liquid, previously so clear, had lost its
transparency, numerous living organisms were visible, and
there was already a thin deposit of dead ones—thus brilliantly
confirming the results of M. Pasteur’s experiments.

146 MEMORANDA.

We conclude our notice with an account of some experi-
ments made by M. Pouchet wita air collected on Mont Blane
by Dr. Kolb. ‘T'wo vessels containing air, obtained at a
height of 4810 métres, were opened under the surface of a
decoction of common clover, which had been boiled for an
hour, and was still at almost the boiling-point. The rising
of the liquid in the vessels showed that they had been
hermetically closed, the air which they contained having
preserved all its rarefaction. After having recorked the
flasks in the hot liquid, the necks were put into mercury
heated for an hour to 160°. The third day the decoction,
which occupied about a third of the vessels, became clouded,
and it was evident that Jnfusoria had been produced. Viewed
under the microscope, the decoction was found to be filled
with living monads of a size intermediate between Monas lens
and Monas corpusculum, with Spiri/lum, and with Bacterium.
Some Amebe immobiles were also observed. A flask of air
obtained on the summit of the Buet, at a height of 3166
métres, and partly filled with the same liquid, gave abso-
lutely analogous results. In some centimétres of air
obtained on Monte Rosa, monads and vibrios have also been
produced. These experiments on the air of Mont Blanc, and
some other of the higher peaks of the Alps, go to prove, as
remarked by M. Pouchet, contrary to the assertion of M.
Pasteur, that whatever be the place or height whence it is
obtained, it is uniformly capable of producing living animal-
cules. M. Pouchet remarks that, at all these considerable
latitudes, the air is almost entirely deprived of organic
corpuscles. The examination both of air and snow proves it.
Neither ova nor spores can be discovered. Thus it would
seem that the question concerning the high air is at present
undecided. We need, however, scarcely remark that the
experimentum crucis alluded to by M. Pasteur is the real
point of the controversy, and one, moreover, which renders
journeys to distant mountain ranges unnecessary. Can M.
Pouchet reply toit? It is simple—it requires no elaboration ;
the comparative skill of the experimenter, therefore, need no
longer be any element in the inquiry. It is here that
M. Pouchet must silence M. Pasteur, or in his turn hold his
peace.—Regder, Dec. 12.

Anatomy of Helix aspersa—In your numbers for January,
1863, and October, 1861, I observed two excellent papers by
Dr. Lawson on the anatomy of Limax maximus and Helix
aspersa.

MEMORANDA. 147

Permit me to make a few observations on his interpretations
of the generative organs of those animals. Having had occa-
sion to dissect a specimen of Helix aspersa, I was struck with
the immense number of zoosperms to be found in the gland
which Dr. Lawson calls the ovary, and on further investiga-
tions on other specimens, as well as on Arion empiricorum
and on specimens of the genera Limneus and Planorbis, I
find I can quite bear out the anatomy as given by Gegen-
baur, as I have before me preparations of ceca of this gland,
which show the zoosperms in situ in the centre, with ova in
all stages of development towards the periphery, but I can-
not make out any double membrane as described by Meckel
and Siebold.

The presence of zoosperms in this gland is, I think, con-
clusive as to its being a testicle as well as ovary, for they are
too numerous to have come in accidentally, and their presence
in ceeca in which all the ova are too young to be impregnated
show that they are not derived from some exterior source for
that purpose, which is also very improbable on other grounds ;
the duct is also stuffed full of zoosperms, and it seems strange
that Carus should have taken them for ciliz.

Dr. Lawson thinks that the prostate is the testis; but the
fact that in the Planorbis the male duct separates from the
uterus and, receiving the secretion of the prostate in its
course, goes on to join the sac of the male opening, shows
that the prostate is simply an accessory organ.

I shall be happy to show Dr. Lawson the preparations
above referred to, and apologising for occupying your valuable
space.—A.rrep Sanpers, M.R.C.S., F.L.S., 22, Beaufort
Villas, Brixton.

VOL. IV.——-NEW SER. L

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Mroroscoricat Socrery.
January 13th, 1864.
CHARLES Brooxn, Esq., President, in the Chair.

W. 4H. Hall, Esq., 13, Victoria Street, Hackney, and Henry
Lee, Esq., The Waldrons, Croydon, were balloted for, and duly
elected members of the Society. Mr. Goddard read a paper “ On
an Improved Table for Mounting Objects.” Dr. Beale read a
paper “On the White Corpuscles of the Blood.”

_ The thanks of the meeting were returned to these gentlemen
for their communications.

February 10th, 1864.
AnnvaL MaznErtine.
Cartes Brooxs, Esq., President, in the Chair.

ms minutes of the preceding meeting were read and con-
rmed.

Reports from the Council, on the progress of the Society, and
from the Auditors of the Treasurer’s accounts, were read.

The President delivered an address relative to the proceedings
of the Society, and also showing the progress of microscopical
science during the past year.

Resolved—* That the reports now read be printed and circu-
lated in the usual manner with the President’s Address.”

J. M. Clabon, Esq., 4, St. George’s Terrace, Regent’s Park,
John Frazer, junior, Esq., and James Howe, Esq., Foster Lane,
were balloted for, and duly elected members of the Society.

The Society then proceeded to ballot for Officers and Council,
when the following gentlemen were declared duly elected for the
year ensuing : .

As President—Charles Brooke, Esq.
As Treasurer—C. J. H. Allen, Esq.

As Secretaries { ea iipeuaie sake

Four Members of Council :—Dr. Beale, James Gilaisher, Esq.,
E. G. Lobb, Esq., 8. C. Whitbread, Esq.,
In the place of—T. W. Burr, Esq., J. R. Mummery, Esgq.,

R. Warington, Esq., who retire in accordance with the regu-
lations of the Society.

EE Oe

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 149

Tare Council of the Microscopical Society of London, being
desirous of extending as far as possible the study of Microscopical
Science, have determined to give their public approval, and grant
a Quekett Medal, to that which shall be adjudged, after careful
comparison, to be the best Microscope of each of the three fol-
lowing classes.

1. An Epucatronan Microscoprrs to be sold for Toren Gurnzas.
2. A Stuprent’s Microscope » Erve GUINEAS.
38. A StupEnt’s Binocutar Microscope ,, Ten GurNeas.

The Council consider that the talent and ingenuity of the In-
strument makers should be restricted as little as possible in the
specifications put forth ; and in fixing on the following conditions
for each Instrument, they confine themselves to what they will
consider absolutely necessary to allow Instruments to compete on
their merits.

1. The Three Guinea Educational must have good achromatic
low powers, which may be made to act in combination or sepa-
rately, to give a magnifying power ranging from 40 to 120
diameters. Fine adjustment may be made by the draw tube:
good optical performance will be preferred to complexity of
mechanism, but some means of inclining the Microscope will be
desirable.

2. The Five Guinea Student’s Microscope to have good achro-
matic powers, which may be made to act in combination or
separately, ranging from 25 to 200 diameters. Two Eye-pieces,
Bull’s Eye Condensor, and Live Box; Camera Lucida, or some
other apparatus for drawing. The stand to be capable of incli-
nation. :

8. The Ten Guinea Student’s Binocular to be capable of being
used as a Uniocular Instrument, to have powers which may be
made to act in combination or separately, ranging from 25 to
200 diameters. One pair of Eye-pieces, Bull’s Eye Condensor,
Live Box, and Lieberkiihn with dark stops, for the lower powers.
The stand to be capable of inclination.

They are also prepared to offer a Certificate of Excellence for a
Hand Achromatic Microscope for field or clinical purposes. The
Instrument, with a Live Box, to be supplied for One Guinea. —

Each Instrument to be fitted with the Society’s screw, and with
its apparatus to be packed in a case.

The Council, in stating the foregoing conditions to be neces-
sary, without which Instruments will not be allowed to compete,
do not wish to place any limit to the mechanism or to the appa-
ratus supplied with each; at the same time, in comparing the
merits of the Instruments sent in, they will consider good optical
performance as the most essential point in determining which
Instrument shall be selected for the Medal.

The Instrument of each class which obtains the Medal to re-
main the property of the Society, to be available as a standard of
comparison, by which purchasers of corresponding. instruments

150 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

may be enabled to test them on application to the Curator of the
Society.

The instruments intended for competition to be sent in to
King’s College, Somerset House, addressed to the Council of the
Microscopical Society of London, on or before the 31st December,
1864. The Council do not undertake to grant a Medal or give a
Testimonial in either of the classes, unless they consider the
Instruments sent in to be worthy of their approval.

G. KE. Buryxiys,
F. C. S. Roper. } Hon. Secs.

King’s College, 25th March, 1864.

Hutt Mricoroscorrcat Society.

On Thursday evening a dress soirée, under the auspices of the
above Society, took place in the Museum of the Royal Institu-
tion. About 250 ladies and gentlemen were present, and seldom
has the cause of science in Hull been graced by so gay an assem-
blage. Every provision was made by the members of the Society
for the entertainment and comfort of their guests. Upwards of
twenty microscopes, including several “ binoculars,”’ occupied the
tables, and among the objects exhibited were the following :—By
Dr. Bell, microscopic shells and wing of butterfly (Morpha
Menelaus) ; F. W. Casson, sections of fossil wood ; Sir H. Cooper,
vegetable tissues; R. M. Craven, bones of the mastodon and
iguanodon; Hy. Gibson, acarus from the human face (Demodex
folliculorum), sporules or ‘spawn of mushrooms, section of tooth
of sawfish, tick of sow; J. M. Gibson, claws of spider, gastric
teeth of cricket (gizzard) ; R. Harrison, circulation of blood in a
fish, living infusoria, water spider (Trombidium), diatom from
guano (Aulacodiscus formosus), chambered shells (Foraminifera),
pollen of mallow under binocular microscope; B. Jacobs, crystal-
lization of salts, crystallization of salts with polarized light; Rey.
H. W. Kemp, spicula of sponge, spicula of Gorgonia; Dr. Kel-
burne King, sections of coal; J. Malam, micro-photographs; S.
Mosely, sections of spines of Hchinus; Dr. Munro, hyperstein,
crystallized silver, scales of a fern, spines from a leaf (polarized) ;
Wm. Parker, micro-photograph £5 note, tongue of a fly; J. D.
Sollitt, microscopic writing (2nd chapter of St. John‘in the 2000th
part of an inch, the Lord’s Prayer in the 2500th part of an inch),
acarus of the wood-cutting bee (Zylocope), acarus of the hare.
In the course of the evening the company adjourned to the Lec-
ture Hall, where Sir H. Cooper offered a few explanatory remarks
on the objects exhibited. To add tothe pleasures of the evening,
a miscellaneous selection of music was performed at intervals,
several accomplished local amateurs being assisted by Fraulein
Anna Eyserbeck and Fraulein Reichmann. The first mentioned of

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 151

these ladies sang exquisitely, and the latter also displayed great
skill as a pianist ; and the applause which followed their pertorm-
ances showed how highly their talent was appreciated by, we
should say, as critical an audience as it would be possible to bring
together in Hull. We have only to add that, in addition to
science and music, there was an ample supply of creature com-
forts, and that at a timely hour terminated one of the most de-
lightful reunions the Hull Microscopical Society has ever had.

West Kent Naturat History, Microscorical, aAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.

We have but just received the annual report of this useful
and active association, containing the President’s (F. Currey,
Esq.) address and reports for the year 1863. The address con-
sists mainly of notices of many of the “principal books and
papers on natural history which have recently appeared,” and it
forms an excellent summary, in very brief compass, of most of the
more important contributions to botany and zoology which have
been published within the last twelvemonth.

If every society of this kind were favoured with a similar address,
associations of the kind would certainly become one of the most
important means of distributing scientific knowledge throughout
the community. Mr. Currey’s example in this respect is one
well worthy of being held up for imitation by all presidents of
scientific societies. We much regret that the President’s excel-
lent address should be too long for our pages, but subjoin the
“ Report of the Council’ upon the general state of the Society.

Report of the Council.

The Council of the West Kent Natural History and Micro-
scopical Society have again the pleasure of congratulating the
members upon the prosperity of the Society. The number of
members, which at the last annual meeting was 113, has increased
to 132; 12 having withdrawn, and 31 having been elected.

Since the last general meeting the objects of the Society have
been extended by an amalgamation with the Blackheath Photo-
graphic Society. The amalgamation has rendered it necessary to
change the name of the Society, and the change proposed, as well
as some slight modifications of the existing rules, will be sub-
mitted for your approval this evening.

The meetings of the past year have been well attended, and the
following papers read:—1. On the dimorphic condition of the
genus Primula, by J. Jenner Weir, Esq. 2. On the blow-pipe
or air-gun of Macoushie Indians, with same remarks on the

152 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES,

Wourali poison, by the Rev. J. G. Wood. 3. Ona new, quick,
dry collodion process, by Arthur R. Marten, Esq.

One field meeting was held, devoted chiefly to Cryptogamic
Botany, and to an inspection of the fossils of the drift period, as
shown in the excavations belonging to Mr. Bazley White, near
Erith, and in the collection of Flaxman Spurrell, Esq.

The annual soirée was unavoidably postponed until the month
of November, and was then highly successful. More than sixty
microscopes were provided, all belonging to members of the
Society, and a variety of interesting objects, consisting of fossils,
shells, ferns, algw, insects, &c., were exhibited, besides a large
collection of photographic (including stereographic) pietures.
The room was decorated with choice plants, supplied by the
liberality of John Penn, Esq.

The Library has been much increased during the past year, the
funds having been sufficient to enable the Council to deyote a
considerable sum to this object, and it is hoped that before long
the Society will possess a really valuable collection of standard
works on subjects connected with natural history and photo-

raphy.

The additions to the Library consist of the following works :—
Huxley’s ‘Man’s Placein Nature.’ (Presented by L. M. Simon,
Esq.) ‘Photographic News, 6 vols. ‘Photographic Journal,’
4yvols. ‘Journal of the Photographic Society,’ 4 vols. (Trans-
ferred from the Blackheath Photographic Society.) ‘ Microscopical
Journal, 1863. ‘Popular Science Review,’ 1863. ‘ Natural
History Review,’ 1863. ‘The Micrographic Dictionary.’ Bad-
ham’s ‘ Esculent Funguses:’ Lovell Reeve’s ‘ British Land and
Freshwater Mollusks.’ Harvey’s ‘ Phycologia Britannica,’ 4 vols.
Johnston’s ‘ History of British Zoophytes,’ 2 vols.

Besides the above, two volumes are due from the Ray Society,
viz., Blackwall’s ‘ British Spiders,’ vol. ii, and Giinther ‘ On Indian
Reptiles,’ both of which may shortly be expected.

The auditors’ report for the year 1863 shows the satisfactory
condition of the Society’s funds.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

A few Worps on the Cuotcre of a Microscope.
By J. J. PLumer, Esq., M.A.

THERE are, perhaps, few instruments of the present day
in which theoretical perfection has been so nearly reached in
its practical results as in the modern microscope. In say-
ing this, I am of course speaking of it in its most perfect
form, in which the highest optical skill is combined with the
most consummate mechanical contrivance. A large number
of works have been published on the microscope,* on its
history and manner of using it, on its manufacture by our
chief opticians, and lastly, on the countless variety of objects
which nature and art present for its investigation.t Dr.

* The following are amongst the principal standard works on the micro-
scope and the wonders it reveals.—Dr. Carpenter, ‘The Microscope and its
Revelations,’ third edition; Mr. Quekett, ‘Treatise on the Microscope,’
third edition; Quekett, ‘Lectures on Histology,’ 2 vols.; Hogg on ‘The
‘Microscope, its history, construction, and application ;’ Beale’s ‘ How to
work with the Microscope ;’ Beale’s, ‘The Microscope and its application
to Clinical Medicine ; Gosse’s ‘Evenings at the Microscope ;’ Lankester’s
‘Half-hours with the Microscope,’ illustrated by Tuffen West; Lewis on
‘Seaside Studies ;’ Pritchard’s ‘ History of Infusoria,’ 4th edit.; Smith on
‘British Diatomacez ;’ Hassall’s ‘British Freshwater Alge;’ Hassall’s
‘Microscopic Anatomy of the Human Body; Wythe on the ‘ Microscope ;?
Griffith and Henfrey’s ‘ Micrographic Dictionary ;? Woodward on ‘ Polarized
Light ;’ Dr. Lardner on the ‘ Microscope.’

+ Without giving a formal classified list of such objects, which would be
misplaced here, let us select three classes merely of the most ordinary, each
of which would stock a large cabinet, each of which has engaged the atten-
tive study of some of the principal naturalists of the day, and given birth
to valuable publications concerning their habits and character. 1st. Insects,
their heads, eyes, antenne, trunks, mouths, tongues, stings, wings, legs, feet,
and breathing-organs; particularly the scales of beetles, butterflies, and
moths. 2nd. The Marine Alge, those vast families of Seaweed, together
with the infimte number of creatures living and fossil attached to them.
3rd. The Pollen or Farina of every wild and cultivated flower or weed that the
earth produces. See Dr. Hicks on “ The Eyes and Peculiar Organs of Sense

VOL. IV.— NEW SER. M

154 ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE.

Carpenter’s great work, ‘The Microscope and its Revela-
tions,’ is, in fact, a complete Cyclopzdia of itself, in which
the above subjects are most ably and fully discussed. The
choice, therefore, of a microscope, about which so much has
been, and we may safely add is being written, which has
become so important an instrument in the hands of the
medical student and physiologist, and which opens to the
general observer the secrets of minute Nature with a clear-
ness and ease till of late unexampled—the choice at the
outset of the most efficient instrument that can be procured
by the lover of microscopic research according to his means
and requirements is a point of some consequence, and about
which I propose now to say a few words. And in doing
this, I am merely going to give my own experience in the
matter, with such positive and direct advice as may help to
guide the inexperienced purchaser in his choice. And firstly,
my observations shall be addressed to those who can afford
to possess themselves of the most perfect and expensive
instruments. I would say, then, to such, what I shall pro-
bably have occasion to repeat more than once—Begin by
procuring the best microscope stand that the best optician can
give you. To explain the optical principles and somewhat
complicated mechanism of the compound achromatic mi-
croscope with such books as Dr. Carpenter’s, and Mr.
Quekett’s, and others before the public, would be altogether
superfluous in a little paper like the present. Nor is it
necessary to enter into the details of its elementary con-
struction, now that illustrated catalogues within the reach of
all are issued by some of our first opticians, with all the
various parts figured and described. Besides, it may be
taken for granted that a person about to invest a large sum
in the purchase of a microscope has a general notion of its
form and build. He may fairly be supposed to know the eye-
piece from the object-glass, why they are so called, and that
on the union of both depends the magnifying power. He
may be supposed to know that the stand of the microscope

in Insects,” ‘Trans. Linn. Soe.’ vol. 28, p. 189; and Mr. Tuffen West’s
“Memoir on the Foot of a Fly,” ‘ Trans. Linn. Soc.’ vol. 22, p. 393; also
M. Bernard Deschamps on ‘‘ The Organization of the Wings of Lepidop-
terous Insects,” ‘Ann. Nat. Science,’ 2nd Zoolog. Series, vol. iii, p. 111;
and Mr. R. Beck, on ‘‘The Podurn Scale,” ‘Trans. Micr. Soc.’ N.S. vol. x,
1862, p. 838. See again Dr. Bowerbank, Mr. Huxley, Mr. Rainey, and
Professor Williamson’s ‘Treatises on Sponges’ and the ‘ Structure of Shells.’
And lastly Mr. Henfrey on ‘The Development of Pollen-grains,” in the
‘Micrographiec Dictionary,’ second edition, p. 558. The above three classes
of objects will be sufficient to give some idea of the wide field over which
others extend, and those yet unexplored.

ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSUOPE. 155

usually consists of two supports, which carry the body into
which the glasses fit, together with the stage on which the
oe rests, and the apparatus necessary for illuminating the
object.

But it may not be amiss, before giving our reasons for the
above advice, to name what constitute the recent improvements
of the modern microscope. They may be not unfitly classed
under eight heads, the inventions or contrivances having suc-
cessively come into vogue between the years 1850-60, in about
the order in which they are placed. They are as follows :—
Ist. The circular rack movement ; 2nd. The clamping arc ;*
3rd. The sub-stage ; 4th. The dark-ground illuminator; 5th.
The double nose-piece; 6th. The double arm to mirror ;
7th. The separation of the inner and outer lenses of the
lower object-glasses ; 8th. Wenham’s binocular arrangement.
The increase of the angular aperture,+ which of late years has
been so greatly extended throughout all the powers of the mi-
croscope, and by which so much additional light is gained for
the clearer resolution of the minute details of objects, immense
as that improvement is, has not been included in the preced-
ing list, because the advance in that direction, through Mr.
Jackson Lister’s able and zealous promotion of that branch
of optical science, coupled with the exquisite skill of our
great opticians, has been carried on steadily since the first
construction of an effective achromatic object-glass in 1824
to the present time. The principle is the same now as then,
only applied more largely, so that the angles in the deepest
lenses have been widened at length to the very last degree
that they can advantageously receive. Again, considerable
improvement has been effected in the achromatic condenser
by Mr. Andrew and Mr. Thomas Ross, and by Mr. Gillett.
Its application has lately been simplified and enlarged by
Mr. Thomas Ross, so as to be capable of use with the lower
powers of the microscope; and its angular aperture has
been also greatly increased to improve still further the per-
formance of the deeper powers, while the light that passes
through it has been modified through Mr. Gillet’s ingenuity
by a series of revolving steps to an almost infinitesimal
extent. But the principle is pretty nearly the same as it was
when M. Dujardin first introduced it.

The eye-piece also for giving double the usual field, which

* This contrivance seems to be peculiar to Mr. Ross’s instruments, at: all
events as to the-manner by which the result is obtained.

+ For a clear explanation of the term angular aperture, see Mr. Prit-
chard’s, given in Mr. Quekett’s ‘Treatise on the Microscope’ (p. 426,
first edition).

156 ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE.

has been long in use, has lately been achromatised by Mr.
Kelner making it a more efficient eye-glass for the popular
exhibition of coarse objects, such as micrographs, insects
entire, and transparent sections of wood and stone. The
same may be said of the traversing motions of the stage
which have received a range of late years by some opticians
to the extent of 1+ inches in rectangular directions, but the
movements are on the same plan as those in use many years
ago. And so likewise with the selenite stage, which has been
improved by the late Mr. Darker; as also with Dujardin’s
prism for reflecting oblique light on transparent objects,
which has been modified in various ways by M. Nachet and
Amici. I think, then, the recent improvements of the modern
microscope may not unreasonably be restricted to the eight
ones named above, and the several objects of which are, in
short, as follows:

lst. The circular rack, which is immediately beneath the
object stage and is capable of carrying it round in Mr. Powell’s
instrument the entire revolution of a circle, and in Mr. Ross’
3 of a revolution, is a very convenient movement for altering
the angle at which an object is being viewed without putting
it out of field or focus, and that even under the deepest
powers. This circular rack, moreover, being graduated, can
be used as a goneometer for measuring crystals ; and it may
be altogether considered as the crowning perfection of the
rectangular stage motion.

2nd. The clamping arc is a simple but effective contrivance
of Mr. Ross’s, by which the microscope can be firmly fixed at
any inclination, and is a point of consequence after the
instrument has been long in use, and the suspension joint has
become too supple at that angle of inclination to which it is
commonly adjusted.

3rd. The advantage of the sub-stage “for holding and
adjusting by universal motions all the illuminating and
polarising apparatus placed beneath the object” can scarcely
be overrated, its applications are so various and convenient.
This sub-stage, besides, can be instantly racked off and
detached from the instrument when it is wanted to illuminate
opaque objects with themirror and Lieberkuhn; nothing isthen
left to intercept the light between the mirror and the objects,
avery large space being given within the object stage through
which an extremely oblique light can be thrown upon them.

4th. The dark ground illuminator, whether by, means of the
spotted lens for the lower, or of the paraboloid for the higher
powers, is an admirable contrivance, by which a brilliant light
is thrown to appearance on semi-opaque objects, though really

ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE. 157

coming beneath them, but so obliquely, that none of it enters
the object-glass but that which is interrupted by the object.

5th. Mr. Brookes’ double nose-piece is a most useful piece
of mechanism attached to the end of the microscope body, by
which any two object-glasses can be screwed on to it at once,
and rapidly changed with each other.

6th. The double arm to the plano-concave mirror is a great
improvement on the old method of supporting it, since it
allows it to be so extended as to cast a very oblique light on
objects, as well as to be raised near them without any
preparatory movement.

7th. The separation of the outer and inner lenses of the
lower powers was a happy idea first carried out by Mr. T.
Ross, by which the greatest flatness of field and penetration
are secured, and which has been adopted with signal success
in his recently invented 38-inch distinct combination object-
glass, which embraces in one field of view comparatively large-
sized objects, such as flowers, ferns, flower-seeds, and mosses.

8th. Mr. Wenham’s binocular arrangement, with double
eye-pieces and prism, through which objects under low and
medium powers are seen to stand out with solid stereoscopic
effect, is the greatest recent invention of the modern micro-
scope. This striking result is effected by means of a prism
placed immediately over the object-glass, and which reflects
one-half of the rays that proceed up the ordinary body of the
microscope into another body attached at a certain inclination
to it. The practical benefit of this new arrangement is, that
it affords not a mere claptrap exhibition of the objects
submitted to it, but gives real relief to the eyes by calling
both into exercise, and allows the details of an object in their
relation one to another to be far more clearly distinguished,
than they could possibly be when the single body and eye-
piece alone are employed. The prism above the object-glasses
can be drawn aside whenever it is required to exclude the
light from passing up the slanting body, and to use the per-
pendicular one as an ordinary microscope, and which of
course will often be the case in the examination of flat objects
by low, and of test objects by the highest powers.

Now I have-been particular, even at the risk of being
tedious, in drawing attention to these various improvements
which have been effected during the last few years in the
achromatic microscope, because they are just those which
make all the difference in the world in the pleasure of using
it, and constitute it quite another instrument from what it
was fifteen years ago. Fortunately, the binocular body, the
dark-ground illuminator, and the 3-inch distinct combination

158 ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE.

object-glass, can be applied to most microscopes of tolerable
size; but the wide range of rectangular stage motion, the
circular rack movement, and, in Mr. Ross’s instrument, the
clamping arc, belong to the largest microscope only, and can-
not be applied to any other. I repeat, then, again, with great
feeling, the advice already proffered to those about to possess
themselves of a superior instrument: Be satisfied with nothing
short of No. 1; for that microscope alone includes or has
power to include all the eight above-mentioned advantages.
The convenient mechanical contrivances, moreover, of the
double nose-piece, the sub-stage, and the double arm to the
plano-concave mirror, are managed with far greater ease and
efficiency when attached to the largest microscope, because of
its great solidity and steadiness ; and I am here reminded to
speak of the pleasant sense of security with which this
steadiness of a first-class microscope stand inspires you; the
complete control thereby afforded over the adjustments and
various apparatus connected with the instrument, without a
chance of disturbing it from its given position, must be
realised to be properly appreciated.

And as to the loss in such a microscope of that portability
which is so much prized by many, this is a want which can
easily be supplied by one of those small stands of trifling
cost. (about which I shall have to speak again presently),
with such limited apparatus as is required for travelling and
seaside excursions, reserving the large instrument exclusively
for home use.

I was seduced myself for many a year into the error of
sacrificing the great advantages of steadiness and mechanical
contrivance to the charms of portability and the possession
of a complete set of object-glasses; but I now at length see
how great was my mistake. If, then, any of my readers
require a portable microscope, and will kindly receive a
lesson from my failures, I would say to them, Have it by all
means, but dJesides, not instead of, a large one. And as to
your object-glasses, I would say, most decidedly, if you cannot
afford to have everything, sacrifice even these in a measure
to your microscope stand. Better secure the very best
stand that can be got, with a couple of good useful object-
glasses, than a second best with a dozen, patiently waiting
to increase your stock of these as your means will allow you.
It is wonderful what can now be done, with such an instru-
ment and apparatus as I am advocating, with large aperture
l-inch and +-inch object-glasses of modern construction !*

* The cost of this instrument, by Mr. Ross, called in his catalogue No. 1a,
with bull’s eye condenser, achromatic condenser, parabolic reflector, double

s

ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE. 159

Now, with regard to the comparative advantages in the
first-class microscope stands by our chief makers, it must of
course be borne in mind that one advantage cannot be gained
to the utmost degree without the sacrifice of some other
convenience. Thus to take the example of the traversing

stage movement, 3-inch motion in rectangular directions, is
not nearly sufficient for the purpose intended, though many
first-class instruments are made only with that. You will
find yourself continually baulked by unexpectedly coming to
the end of your tether. So much does Mr. Pillischer value
great range of motion in this part of the instrument, that
his No. 1 stand is constructed with nearly 14 inches of
motion in each direction; but if you wish for that luxury
you must make up your mind to the inconvenience of a bulky
microscope, and to the loss of the circular rack. Again,
so much does Mr. Powell prize the advantage of the circular
rack movement, that his great instrument is so constructed
as to enable it to make an entire revolution of a circle when
required, not only % of a revolution, as is the case in Mr.
Ross’s instrument; but then if you covet that convenience,
you must make up your mind to put up with a limited range
of stage motion, and a somewhat unwieldy stand. Mr.
Ross, however, striking the balance between these two
advantages and disadvantages, secures a l-inch motion in
rectangular directions to the traversing stage; a 3 revolution
of a circle to the circular rack, which are sufficient for all
practical purposes; while the entire instrument is not too
heavy to be carried in one hand, though immoveably- firm
when once placed on its pedestal. Messrs. Smith, Beck, and
Beck’s large microscope possesses many excellent qualities.
Its double body and stage are supported by a solid brass limb,
with the rack movement attached to the body itself, giving
great strength and security to that part of the instrument,
but the power is lost thereby of turning the body, when
required, out of its axis altogether away from the stage—a
convenience belonging to the first-class microscopes of our
other great makers. At the sacrifice of this and some other
advantages, Mr. Smith’s instrument, though of exquisite
workmanship, is less costly, and lighter in its general
build than theirs—merits that are sure to be appreciated by a
large class of purchasers. Where, however, expense need not

nosepiece, polariscope, and mahogany box, is £60. The addition to the l-inch
and 3-inch object-glasses, of a 2-inch glass, and which would make the instru-
ment quite complete would raise the cost to 60 guineas. A similar micro-
scope of Mr. Powell’s would be about the same price, those of Messrs. Smith
and Pillischer, some few pounds less.

160 ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE.

be considered, I on the whole incline to the opinion that the
greatest number of advantages are secured in Mr. Ross’s
instrument that are compatible one with another.*

Thus much with respect to the mechanical department of
microscopes. I must now say a few words on the optical
part, and especially that most important part—achromatic
object-glasses. The-object-glass may in truth be regarded as
the eye of the microscope; that which is termed the eye-
glass standing in about the same relation to it in importance
that a hand magnifier does to the unassisted eyesight.
As the hand-glass would be useless if we had no eyes, so
would be the microscope eye-piece but for the object-glass.
Of what consequence, then, is it that the object-glass should
be as perfect as possible! It is this perfecting of the achro-
matic object-glass that has engaged for the last forty years
so many sagacious heads, mathematicians and opticians in
England and abroad, and in the final accomplishment of which
they have justly earned a lasting reputation. For, to quote
Mr. Quekett’s words in his treatise on the microscope, “ Of
all the triumphs of science that have been achieved by a combi-
nation of the labour of the mathematician and the workman,
no one can outvie, in delicacy of construction and impor-
tance, a well-made achromatic combination.” Thus, Franen-
hofer, Selligues, Chevalier, Aimici, on the continent ;
Herschell, Airy, Barlow, Coddington, Lister, Ross, of our
own country; and the eminent opticians Messrs. Thomas Ross,
Powell, and Smith, now resident in London, are all names
that will be ever gratefully remembered by the lovers of
microscopic research in their connection more or less directly
with the achromatic object-glass. And perhaps foremost
amongst these, for the tangible results at least that they
have actually worked out and effected, may be placed, without
any partiality, those of Mr. Joseph Jackson Lister and
Mr. Andrew Ross. Mr. Lister’s, for his suggestion, that of
the double convex lens, a, which, with the plano-concave

A B c
OU ie 7 | oy ae
lens, B, go to make up an achromatic combination, the latter

* Dr. Carpenter strongly recommends either of the three great micro-
scopes by Messrs. Powell, Smith, and Ross (‘ The Microscope,’ p. 96) as the
most desirable for any one, who, according to his means and requirements,
wishes to possess a first-class instrument; but he gives the first place to

Mr. Ross’, though for reasons not precisely the same as those that have been
here advanced. :

ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE. 161

should be of flint glass; and secondly, for his happy concep-
tion of uniting these lenses, already identical as at c, still
more perfectly by a transparent and colourless cement; thus
greatly diminishing the loss of light by reflection, and which
is considerable at the numerous surfaces of an achromatic
combination. Mr. Ross’s, for being the first to notice that
however perfect the correction of an object-glass might be,
*‘the circumstance of covering the object,” to use his own
words, “‘ with a piece of thinnest glass or talc, disturbed the
corrections if they had been adapted to an uncovered object,
and rendered an object-glass which was perfect under one
condition seriously defective under the other.’ It was to
correct this defect that he devised the well-known contrivance
called the adjustment of object-glasses, by which they are
rendered equally correct whether for covered or uncovered
objects; and for the particulars of which, and further im-
provements in its mechanism by Messrs. Powell and Smith,
the reader is referred to Mr. Quekett on the ‘ Microscope,’
and to Mr. Andrew Ross’s invaluable paper in the ‘ Penny
Cyclopedia,’ the substance of which is embodied in both
Dr. Carpenter’s and Mr. Quekett’s works.

I have deemed it proper to allude thus far to the history
and make of the achromatic object-glass,* not only because

* The following diagrams of the different object-glasses will help to explain
the complex structure and consequent costliness of an achromatic combina-
tion to those who are unacquainted with it.

2 . < i. * 2
3 in., 2 in., 14 in. lin, 3. 4, sh 2 3,2 3) op oe Fee

All the double convex and plano-convex lenses are of crown glass, the
Jano and double concave and meniscus lenses being of flint glass. It will
a seen, therefore, that each of the object-glasses, from the 3 to the 4th, are
made up of as many as eight distinct lenses: the back combination being a
triplet composed of two double convex lenses of crown, with a double
concave lens of flint glass between them; the intermediate combination

162 ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE.

it occupies so prominent a place in the structure of the
microscope, but also because the preceding discoveries,
though many years prior to the eight recent improvements
spoken of in the earlier part of this paper, are of by far the
greatest importance. And now, before making any further
remark, it will be necessary to give some explanation of the
four terms used to denote the qualities of an object-glass ;
namely, Resolution, Penetration, Definition, and Flatness of
field. 1st. The term Resolution is used to signify the power
of an object-glass to show clearly the minute details on the
surface of objects such as dots or lines, and which is effected,
not so much by increase of magnifying power, as by increase
of light transmitted through the object-glass to the eye by
the enlargement of its angular aperture. 2nd. The term
Penetration, according to its modern acceptation, denotes that
quality of an object-glass which enables the observer to see deep
into the structure of objects, not merely any delicate mark-
ings on their surface, but what is below them as well, without
any alteration of focus; to show with perfect distinctness
such parts as are in focus, and with tolerable clearness those
parts that are a little out of focus besides. 3rd. The term
Definition is used to signify the capabilities of an object-glass
for showing the various details of an object, especially its
boundaries, with the most perfect and exquisite sharpness.
4th. The expression marginal and central definition, in other
words, Flatness of field, is used to denote the capacity of an
object-glass for showing the plane surface of an object as
sharply defined at the margin of the field of view as it is in
its centre. It would be well for a person about to buy a
microscope to have these four terms and their definition
clearly in his mind—at his fingers’ ends, so to say; because
it is on the union of the above qualities in the highest degree,
as far as they are consistent one with another, that the good-
ness of an object-glass mainly depends. Anyhow, I trust the
preceding explanation will help to clear up the meaning of
the very few remarks which I proceed now to make. Dr.
Carpenter in his work on the microscope observes that some’
opticians, in their zeal to increase the resolving power of
object-glasses by the excessive enlargement of their angular
aperture, unduly sacrifice the still more important qualities
being a doublet composed of a double convex lens of crown, with a double
concave of flint glass; and the front combination being another triplet com-
posed of two plano-convex lenses of crown, with a plano-concave lens of
flint between them. ‘This will explain the composition of the shallow object-
glasses, the distance between the different combinations throughout all the

objectives and their size depending on the amount of magnifying power
required.

ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE. 163

of penetration and definition. Now, although this may be
quite true in many cases, the following instance may serve
to show that the largest angle that a medium object-glass
can be made to bear, may be obtained when truly corrected
without any injury to the perfection of its penetrating and
defining qualities. And if this be true with medium object-
glasses, it is still more so with deep ones, in which not pene-
trating, but resolving power is the principal requisite. Mr.
T. Ross, for example, has enlarged the angles of his objectives
altogether as much, and of his medium object-glasses beyond
those of other opticians; and yet on carefully testing some
recent medium object-glasses, by a very eminent maker,
whose angular apertures were considerably less than his, I
found their penetration and marginal definition greatly
inferior to them, so that their performance on opaque objects
was altogether indifferent; and this conclusion has been
confirmed by other microscopists of far greater scientific
knowledge than I possess. Hach of our principal makers will
of course always have their special advocates. There will
always be in the microscopic world Powellites, Rossites,
Smithites, Pillischerites. To undervalue, therefore, in the
slightest degree the undoubted excellences in the glasses
manufactured by other opticians, is far from my thoughts; I
only say that, as far as the preceding experiment goes, from
the large angular aperture, and consequently great resolving
power which Mr. Ross obtains throughout his object-glasses,
it is only natural to argue that their spherical and chromatic
aberrations must be exquisitely corrected to ensure along
with it so great an amount of penetrating and defining power.
The object-glasses manufactured by Messrs. Smith and Beck
justly bear a high character both for the optical skill dis-
played in them, and for the great excellence of their work-
manship. ‘Too high praise, again, can scarcely be accorded to
Messrs. Powell and Lealand for their untiring efforts in pro-
ducing with such success the deepest power for resolving the
delicate points or lines of very minute structures, namely, their
~;th and .1,th objectives, though their sphere of usefulness,
owing to their great expensiveness and extremely short focal
lengths, becomes somewhat limited; especially too, as the angu-
lar aperture of such glasses cannot be increased with advan-
tage, beyond that which the --,th already possesses. It must be
remembered, moreover, that the principal work of the micro-
scope is effected with low and medium powers. How often
do we find ourselves using, I will not say a =,th, or +),th, or
ith object-glass, but even a 1th, compared with the powers
~ below them? Besides, the peculiar attribute, after all, of the

164 ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE.

compound achromatic microscope, which exalts it so far above
the simple, is its capacity for exhibiting opaque objects with bril-
liancy and sharpness. And thisis the special province of low
and medium object-glasses—opaque objects, too, being (as old
Dr. Goring truly said) severer tests than transparent ones of
the penetration and definition of these powers of a microscope.

When the achromatic object-glass was in its infancy, the
best test object now, as then, of the goodness of a deep ob-
jective, the lines on the Podura scale, could be resolved by
transmitted light under a fine triplet, with a sharpness at
least approaching the modern one eighth; but what glass,
save the achromatic, was then capable of showing the com-
monest opaque objects satisfactorily? The old compound
microscope was incapable of showing them with any distinct-
ness, owing to the aberrations of its uncorrected object-
glass, which, together with the eye-piece, broke up the light
into red and blue colours, and if these were corrected by
limiting the aperture of the object-glass, the hight was insuf-
ficient for any satisfactory result. If, on the other hand,
the simple microscope was employed even in its best form of
doublet or triplet, though its aberrations were nearly got rid
of, and sufficient angular aperture was obtained to resolve
the ordinary test objects, yet, as they were not so totally
destroyed as to allow the employment of an eye-piece to
increase the magnifying power of the object-glass, the ampli-
fication of the objects submitted to it was too trifling for any
practical purposes. And if, again, a deeper triplet lens was
used to raise the magnifying power to the proper point, the
focus between the object and object-glass was so short, that
no reflected light could be interposed between them. So
that now, in fact, the lowest achromatic object-glass, com-
bined with the lowest eye-piece, gives more excellent
results in the examination of opaque objects than the
deepest single lens that could be effectually employed
upon them. And if this be so with the shallowest powers,
it may readily be anticipated how splendid are the achieve-
ments on such objects of the less shallow and medium
object-glasses. Thus, the recently adopted 2rd in. is a
charming power for many opaque objects, and -4,th im. even
for such as are extremely minute, while the 4 in., especially
that of 90° aperture,* will, probably, always maintain its

* So much difference of opinion exists as to the advantage of small and
large angular apertures, especially for the purposes of scientific investiga-
tion, that it is with diffidence that I avow my decided preference for large
apertures, presupposing, of course, the most perfect corrections on the object-
glasses possessing them. Presupposing, then, these essential conditions,

ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE. 165

ground as one of the most useful of glasses; for the same
reason that the parabolic reflector ranks as one of the
greatest inventions of the modern microscope—the 1 in.
as being the highest power that can be used on opaque
objects with the best results; the paraboloid as enabling
us to obtain even under a 1th in. objective the effect of a
brilliantly reflected light. And I am glad to see that
Dr. Carpenter, in his work, ‘The Microscope,’ though he
does not lay so much stress on the advantage of medium
powers for opaque objects as is here insisted on, nevertheless
intimates his satisfaction at the marked attention lately paid
by our first opticians to the construction of such glasses
as are capable of showing, in the most perfect manner, that
fascinating class of objects.

And with respect to transparent objects (not to speak of the
advantage of the achromatic microscope over the simple, accru-
ing from the luxury of a large and well-defined field, causing
infinitely less strain upon the eyes) , the circumstance of obtain-
ing with the medium glasses of the achromatic instrument this
high magnifying power combined with considerable length
of focus is so great a convenience in the examination of
organised structures, and of living actions, whether vegetable
or animal, when covered with a thick medium of glass or
water, that this alone constitutes a benefit almost as striking
as that which is derived from such glasses when employed
upon opaque objects.

But it is time now to leave this part of our subject, and say a
few words to those whose tastes lead them or means oblige
them to confine themselves to the less expensive class of micro-

the utmost amount of light that can be transmitted through an object-glass,
by the increase of its angular aperture is of so much consequence for
exhibiting the details of objects in their ¢ruthfulness, that it is difficult to
understand how so many scientific people should adhere thus pertinaciously
to small angular apertures. Puta }-inch objective of large, and a jth of
small angular aperture, but both equal in other respects, on some trans-
parent object, say one of the common rotifera: the former glass will show
with wonderful precision the forms of its digestive system, which the
latter, though a higher magnifying power, will only show as comparatively
confused with one another. Again, put the same glasses on the green
scaies (as seen by reflected light) of the wing of the papilio Paris butterfly,
the large aperture }-inch will exhibit their lines and striz, as clearly and
sharply as a ith glass would by transmitted light, with a reality in fact that
the most careful management of the Bull’s-eye condenser, or the mirror and
Lieberkuhn would in vain enable the small aperture th to equal. It is for
this reason, then, that I prefer well corrected object-glasses of large angular
aperture, and feel that the trouble of adjusting them and managing the
illumination as skilfully as may be, is well bestowed, if only the result is
ensured at last of seeing objects /uithfully represented—as they are in short
—and not as they are xot.

166 ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE.

scopes, as they necessarily form by far the largest class of pur-
chasers. Those, then, who, for the preceding reasons, do not
aspire to the possession of first-class instruments, but such as
rank midway between the most and the least expensive, will
find all that they can desire in great variety at any of our prin-
cipal makers, called students’, medical or educational micro-.
scopes, and by Mr. Ross, “the bases of complete instru-
ments.” These microscopes are of a very high order, both
as regards the mechanical and the optical parts. They are
generally furnished with two best object-glasses, and all neces-
sary apparatus, at a cost varying from £20 to £40. And I
must here beg to reiterate the advice already given with respect
to first-class instruments. It is better, having secured the
object-glasses, to purchase at once the most complete mi-
croscope stand, with its usual appliances that the highest
price here mentioned will procure. It is far better than
having additions made to it on some future occasion, which
may necessitate the return of the instrument to the maker,
and by far the cheapest plan in the long run. For those,
again, who are restricted to the least expensive form of
microscopes, the market now-a-days is happily as extensive
and fruitful as it is excellent. I would recommend such
persons to procure a catalogue of microscopes from Messrs.
Smith and Beck, or Mr. Pillischer, or, indeed, any of
the opticians whose names are given below, and where they
will find the description of a class of instruments called uni-
versal, or hospital, small students’ or third-class educational,
which have useful mechanical movements and object-glasses
at the moderate cost of from £5 to £15.

I have often thought how fortunate I should have considered
myself, when a boy, could I have bought for £10 sucha
microscope as Messrs. Smith and Beck, or Mr. Pillischer,
now offer to the public at £5. The price, indeed, of the
instrument by Mr. Field, of Birmingham, with similar
apparatus to the above, and for the satisfactory working of
which I can vouch myself, is as low as £3.

Such microscopes, though with eye-pieces and all neces-
sary appliances to the stand, are, of course, in their most
simple forms, and are rather suited for instruction and amuse-
ment than for scientific research ; nor would it be reasonable
to expect from them what can only be found in far higher-
priced instruments. But those which run as high as £15
are provided with the binocular arrangement, fine and coarse
adjustments to the optical part, moveable stage, parabolic
reflector, polariscope, and all necessary apparatus, with such
object-glasses as are usually supplied with these instruments ;

ON THE CHOICE OF A MICROSCOPE. 167

and if the moveable stage can be dispensed with for the ordi-
nary one, object-glasses of moderate aperture are sold with it
at the same price, which are sufficiently well corrected for
scientific investigation. The possessor, therefore, of a first-class
microscope can thus obtain a portable one, if he pleases, at a
very trifling cost, even when fitted with the binocular body,
since all that he requires is the stand,—for as, by a general
consent amongst the best opticians, the screws of every modern
microscope and object-glass are so constructed as to fit each
other alike, he will find his own objectives equally well adapted
both to his large and small instrument.

Mr. Thomas Ross and Messrs. Powell and Lealand have
justly earned the gratitude of the public for their unceasing
energy in perfecting the various departments of microscopic
art. But surely, with equal justice, those who have done
their utmost to bring really efficient instruments within the
reach of ordinary purchasers. Amongst this latter class of
opticians may be named Mr. Dancer, of Manchester; Mr.
King, of Bristol; Messrs. Field and Parkes, of Birmingham ;
and Messrs. Amadio, Baker, Crouch, Highley, Horne, Ladd,
Warrington, and Wood, of London; but especially Messrs.
Smith, Beck, and Beck, who, descending from the high ground
they occupy as the manufacturers of first-class microscopes,
have taken such pains to effect this desirable object. Nor can,
indeed, such an object be too warmly promoted; for the
microscope, owing to the perfection of its present construction,
is becoming every day more and more popular. It is as
necessary almost to the surgeon as his surgical instruments.
It is hourly enlarging our view of the astonishing products of
an invisible world, unmistakeably revealing the Finger of
God, and transforming the commonest things cast aside as
worthless by the careless and unobservant, into treasures
truly wonderful and precious.

I must now bring these remarks to a close; and which
have been written with the sincere desire that those who would
set up a microscope for themselves may not fall into the same
snare that I did myself, but may reap, by a short and
royal road, all the benefits from that engaging instrument
that it has cost me many years to acquire.

168

On TEICHMANN’S BLOOD-CRYSTALS.
By Wiiu1am Henpry, Esq.

Havine an impression that the nature of Teichmann’s
blood-crystals, supposed to be that. of pure hematine or of the
colouring matter of blood, and hence termed hematin-crystals,
may not be so generally understood as the subject seems to
merit ; believing also that but very few individuals amongst
those whom their production may chiefly interest have
hitherto undertaken manipulations with respect to them,
and the subject at large possessing a general microscopical
value, as well as being of some interest in medical juris-
prudence, I have deemed it worth while to awaken the
attention of your readers to it, with the earnest hope of
inducing some to undertake enlarged experiments, and of
eliciting additional facts, which may tend to still greater
utility.

How much it still exists a desideratum to determine con-
clusively the character of certain supposed blood-stains can
only be evinced by the recent contributions to scientific
journals and in various other publications, mostly relating to
some modifications of the usual chemical measures applicable
to the question (‘Chemical News,’ June, 1861) as contained
in an article by Guibourt, also (idem, November, 1861)
another on the subject by Thomas D. Toase, of Jamaica,
who quotes Fowne, Miller, and Taylor; but if we refer on
the other hand to Kolliker (edit. 1860, p. 526), and also to
Virchow, translated by F. Chance (1860, p. 145), we find
therein a value put upon Teichmann’s crystals by these
authors, as also by Briicke and others, perhaps not hitherto
sufficiently regarded by the leading authorities in our own
country. ;

Now I think, in all justice, the subject is well worthy of
every consideration, for satisfactory as may be the ordinary
chemical means of determining the nature of supposed blood-
stains or spots, as taught by Taylor and others, consisting in
steeping, boiling, the application of ammonia, the production
of a coagulum or precipitate, then filtering, drying, boiling in
caustic potash, and the further productions of solubility and
colour, occasions still may arise when in the case of stains or
spots of very minute size, or occurring under various circum-
stances, the production of Teichmann’s crystals might afford
the most available and conclusive evidence in the matter.

HENDRY, ON TEICHMANN’S BLOOD-CRYSTALS. 169

. My own hitherto limited experience would induce me to
place as much reliance upon the one method as the other
(English as Continental), as regards ordinary quantities, but
we have the authority of Virchow to the purport that, “in
cases in which the ordinary chemical tests would necessarily
fail on account of the smallness of the quantity, we are still
able to obtain heematine.” Again, ‘‘ These forms (crystalline)
have proved of very great importance in forensic medicine on
account of their having been employed as one of the surest
tests for the examination of blood-stains.” I myself, says
Virchow, have been in a position to make experiments of
this sort in forensic cases; and he further asserts that in the
case of a murdered man, on the sleeve of whose coat “blood had
spurted, and where some of the drops were only a line in
diameter, he had been able from these minute specks to
produce innumerable crystals of hematine—of course micro-
scopical ones.”

Now, it appears to me that Virchow himself is unfortu-
nately rather loose in the expressions, ‘‘ some of the drops,’
“from these minute specks,” &c., where it is intended to
imply a minimum quantity of material under manipulation,
for a multiplicity of drops, of each a line in diameter, might
afford a quantity amply sufficient for comparison. However,
Iam myself willing to suppose that a quantity of material
covering aspace not exceeding about ;th or ;;th of an
English inch in length as well as in breadth, may furnish
ample means of producing abundance of the crystals in ques-
tion, as readily as a number of drops or even an indefinite
continuous Jine of blood-deposit.

Kolliker likewise states, ‘‘ the interest of these crystals has
recently been greatly enhanced, from their having been used
by Briicke in the diagnosis of blood spots.”

So far, therefore, as authority goes, as to the importance
of Teichmann’s crystals, there is nothing wanting, yet there
are a few matters to be understood concerning the distinc-
tions necessary to be observed between the crystals obtained
from the colouring matter of blood, whether produced spon-
taneously or artificially, or whether formed in or out of the
body. Y

Jones and Sieveking figure crystals of hematine as elon-
gated rectangular tablets, which vary very much in size, and
are coloured more or less deeply by red matter (edit. 1854,
p- 91) such are of pathological import.

Hematoidine crystals are formed in the body out of heema-
tine, in the form of oblique rhombic columns or plates, some-
times resembling uric acid crystals, common to apoplectic

VOL. IV.—NEW SER. N

170 HENDRY, ON TEICHMANN’S BLOOD-CRYSTALS.

effusions, coagula or extravasations, thrombi, &c., and pre-
senting the usual play of colours by chemical treatment
similar to the colouring matter of bile; being also insoluble
in water, alcohol, ether, or acetic acid. (See Virchow, p. 145 ;
Kolliker, p. 526.)

Hemin crystals of Teichmann, on the other hand, are not
of pathological import, do not occur spontaneously, but are
prodnced artificially and out of the body.

Another form of crystal is designated hemato-crystalline
of Lehmann. These differ in different classes of animals,
are very destructible, and readily perish, are found in normal
perfectly fresh blood outside the body only, are soluble in
acetic and nitric acids, and also in caustic alkalies; they are
red or colourless crystals, assuming the form of needles,
columns or plates, probably belonging to the rhombic system,
but also occur as tetrahedra, octohedra (guinea pig, rat,
mouse), or as hexagonal plates (squirrel), &c.

It may now be desirable to enter upon the subject of
manipulation—recording the several brief methods for the
production of Teichmann’s crystals, as set forth by authors,
and furnishing also such details as I have found myself the
most advantageous in the course of my own investigations.

A blood-stain is treated with distilled water, and the
solution, to which is added a little common salt, is evaporated
in vacuo over sulphuric acid, then wetted with glacial acetic
acid and evaporated on the water-bath, afew drops of distilled
water being added to the product. Teichmann’s crystals
may thus be examined (‘ Kolliker,’ 1860, p. 526).

Again, the best mode of proceeding is to mix dried blood
in as compact form as possible with dry crystallized powdered
common salt, and then to add to this mixture glacial acetic
acid, and evaporate at a boiling heat; this is a reaction which
must be ranked among the most certain and reliable ones
with which we are acquainted (‘ Virchow,’ 1860, p. 146).

M. Briicke directs to “‘ wash the spots with cold distilled
water to the reddish solution obtained, add a solution of sea-
salt, and evaporate to dryness in vacuo over a vessel con-
taining sulphuric acid; examine the dry residue well by the
microscope, to verify whether it contains airy matter which
might be mistaken for Teichmann’s crystals ; then add a little
glacial acetic acid, evaporate to dryness, moisten the residue
with water, when crystals of heematine will be formed if blood
exists in the spots.”

One might reasonably suppose, after the above several
quotations, that nothing could remain to be added, and yet
in experiment sources of failure may still exist. The ‘ Micro-

HENDRY, ON TEICHMANN’S BLOOD-CRYSTALS. 17]

graphical Dictionary’ fortunately supplies the deficiency,
although I had myself accidentally stumbled upon its recom-
mendations prior to my consulting it. Under the head of
Heematoidine, which appears therein to embody the several
kinds of blood-crystals, the author states, “ If recently dried
blood be treated with a vegetable acid (acetic, oxalic), and a
drop of the solution be placed upon a slide coverED witH
THIN GLAss, and kept at a temperature of 80° to 100°, Fahr.,
the crystals may also be obtained, the addition of water and
a little alcohol or ether to the blood sometimes favours the
separation of the crystals—their preservation is difficult.”

My own experiments have been conducted thus :—A drop
or two of fluid blood, or if dry, with an addition of distilled
water, may be placed upon a slide, and a small quantity of
dried common salt be mixed with it, and spread through a
disc of about the size of a shilling; lightly cover over to
protect from dust, and set aside for a day or two for spon-
taneous evaporation, then scrape off the hardened material
with a knife edge, break up and spread loosely, moisten with
glacial acetic acid, and apply a thin glass cover (square),
filling up with the acid by means of a glass rod; place now
upon the water-bath (a temporary apparatus, such as two tea-
cake tins placed upon a tripod and heated with the spirit,
may suffice), and when dry apply in like manner a few drops
of distilled water with the glass rod, the cover not being
disturbed ; continue the heat to dryness, examine under the
microscope both slide and cover, reversing that which is
most approved; then moisten with spirits of turpentine or
chloroform, and mount in Canada balsam, in which will be
found an admirable medium of preservation notwithstanding
the difficulties asserted elsewhere. The -4,ths objective will
constitute a power best adapted for observation, the crystals,
although deviating much im size, yet for the most part
are very characteristic.

I have myself experimented several times very successfully
upon a much less quantity than the usually estimated bulk of
a drop of human blood.

On Homecrapia iv Fresn Warer. By F. L. EvLenstern,
of Stuttgart.

Tue majority of frond-bearing diatoms, constituting the
Tribe II of Professor Smith, the status involucratus of Kiit-
zing, are marine; still nearly every generic type of the tribe
is found represented by a fresh-water form, and the cymbelloid
type of frustule is even exclusively such. The fresh-water
genus, Frustulia, Ebr., characterised by naviculoid frustules
in a gelatinous stratum, may be said to prepare the way for
the higher marine forms with definite fronds. Berkeleyia,
Drokreia, and several species of that genus, are common on
the continent. The higher Schizonemata are all strictly
marine; but Colletonema affords a good fresh-water illus-
tration on a lower scale, the latter genus being, however, much
less known on the continent. Only this spring I have dis-
covered C. vulgare, Thu., to be pretty frequent in the
environs of Stuttgart, and it may have been often overlooked
from its uncommon habitat, which, as far as my experience
goes, is confined to deep mud, where it creeps below the films
of Pleurosigma attenuaium, Pinnularia viridula, etc. Another
species, C. viridulum, Bréb., has been found in. Silesia by
M. Bleisch, who has accurately followed up its development.
At first the frustules aggregate into small dark-brown com-
pact heaps on a soft gelatinous stratum. From the latter, at
the pomts where‘ the frustules aggregate, tubes are evolved
which penetrate into the mud like the roots of a plant, and
thus a Colletomena results which before any judge would have
pronounced a Frustulia. From a series of specimens in his
possession, M. Bleisch believes these genera to pass into each
other without a definite line of demarcation.

Passing over the genus Mastigloia, being distributed over
both mediums, there only remains Homeecladia (with
Raphdogloea, Kg.) possessing the nitzschoid type, which
has not hitherto been observed in fresh water. From the
great abundance of free Nitzschiz in almost every aquatic
gathering, the absence of a fresh-water Homeecladia appeared
the more striking, and it was with much gratification that a
short time ago I succeeded in finding out the coveted plant.

On examining cushions of Gomphonema curvatum from a
waterfall in the neighbourhood of Stuttgart, I was struck by the
appearnce of what seemed a Colletonema entangled between
the stripes of the Gomphonema. Having placed a filament on

EULENSTEIN, ON HOM@CLADIA IN FRESH WATER. 173

athin cover in adrop of distilled water, I submitted it to heat,
and now readily observed undoubted Nitzschie lying within
the scorched tube. Ata point where the latter was ruptured
some frustules had escaped and allowed the closest examina-
tion, from which I am inclined to consider the new fresh-
water form a near ally to H. fitfililiformis, W.Sm. (3 minor, and
to pronounce it even a mere variety of the latter species. The
frustules are somewhat smaller andthe frontview broader; their
arrangement is rather crowded than fasciculate, the filaments
observed were undivided—characters either not sufficiently
important, or not sufficiently established for the present, to
warrant a separation on these grounds. A figure was thought
to be unnecessary, the more as [ shall take pleasure in present-
ing the original specimen described to the collection of the
London Microscopical Society, and I shall be glad to com-
municate a few left to those especially interested.*

I may, with propriety, conclude this account with an allu-
sion to the fact that the above instance of the apparent
occurrence of a marine species in fresh water is not an isolated
one in the class Algze. I only mention at present another
diatom, Nitzschia dubia, W. Sm., which being indigenous to
brackish water, seemingly occurs in several localities on the
continent in springs and ditches. As I am preparing, for
insertion in the present publication, a full report on such
eases, I shall be thankful to receive any opinions bearing on
the subject, from British diatomists, who, from their ready
access to the seashore, are well enabled to form a correct
judgment on the following practical question which has often
occurred to me in connection with the facts mentioned, and
which seems worth while discussing at a future opportunity :
—‘ Are forms apparently identical, but hving in opposite
mediums, to be regarded as one species, or does the medium
constitute the hmit in such cases?”

* The author will moreover be happy to exchange rare Continental
species and deposits for British, marine, and brackwater gatherings, or
foreign deposits.

174,

Description of Two NEW sPEcrIES of Cosmarium (Corda) of
Penium (Bréb.) and of Arturopesmus (Ehr.). By
Wiuiam ARCHER.

(Read before the Natural History Society of Dublin.)

Family DESMIDIACE.
Genus CosmMaritum, Corda.
CosMARIUM PYGMa@UM, mihi, sp. noy.

Specific characters—Frond very minute, smooth, seg-
ments sub-quadrilateral; end view sub-elliptic, somewhat
inflated at each side at the centre.

Locality.—Featherbed Bog and elsewhere in pools in Dublin
mountains; not very rare; on submerged plants, and in
Sphagnum pools, coating the moss. /

General description —Frond very minute, smooth, rather
broader than long; constriction a minute linear acute notch ;
segments in front view rather more than twice as broad as
long, subquadrilateral, outline sometimes slightly irregular,
ends straight or slightly curved; side view scarcely twice as
long as broad, constriction a triangular emargination on each
side, segments orbicular ; end view sub-elliptic, with a gentle
gradual central protuberance at each side, extremities sub-
conical, rather abruptly rounded. Zygospore orbicular,
smooth (without spines), placed between the shortly decidu-
ous empty parent fronds.

Measurements.—Length of frond, ~,; to 334; breadth,
sone to +155; depth (thickness), ~4,,5 to =355 of amanel

Pl. VI, Figs. 45, 46, front view; 4:7, side view; 48, end
view of frond; 49, zygospore.

Affinities and differences.—There is no danger of mistaking
this for any other species, except, perhaps, C. tinctum; but
from it, this form is at once distinguished by its subquadri-
lateral, not broadly and regularly elliptic, segments, and by
its colourless, not faintly reddish, cell-wall. I have met this
form for two or three years, and I consider it is perfectly
distinct, nor is there any other species with which it need be
contrasted. There is a slight variation as to size within the
limits above mentioned. I might remark that the general
contour of the segments seems to me to resemble in some
degree those of Cosmarium biretum (Bréb.), and which to
those acquainted with that species may serve to help out my

ARCHER, ON TWO NEW SPECIES OF COSMARIUM. 175

description ; but it would be simply absurd to institute any
further comparison between them.

The orbicular smooth zygospore without spines seems fur-
ther to indicate an affinity with C. tinctum. This latter I
have moreover found to possess orbicular, not quadrate zygo-
spores—thus, perhaps, pointing to an affinity between these
species more strongly. But the parent forms are readily dis-
tinguished by the characteristics alluded to above; and I
cannot fancy the possibility of their being confounded. Thus
this distinct little species forms an additional exception to
the generally pervading rule, that in this family the deeply
constricted short forms possess spinous zygospores. But I
shall take a future opportunity to draw attention to a few
cases of exceptional form as regards the presence or absence
of spines in the zygospores of the Desmidiacez,

Genus ARTHRODESMUS, Ehr.

ARTHRODESMUS TENUISSIMUS, mihi, sp. nov.

Specific characters.—Frond extremely minute; segments
subhexagonal, opposite lateral extremities acutely cuspidate,
each upper angle furnished on each front with a minute
acute mucro, which four in the fusiform end view stand out
divergently.

Locality—Featherbed Bog, in Sphagnum pools, coating
the moss.

General description.—Frond very minute, smooth, some-
what broader than long; constriction, a rounded or bluntly
triangular sinus; segments in front view about twice as broad
as long, sub-hexagonal, the sides somewhat concave, the oppo-
site lateral extremities projecting horizontally, acutely cuspi-
date, ends truncate or slightly concave, the two upper angles
at each front view furnished with a minute spine or mucro,
but which, in this view, being turned rather towards the
observer than divergent, each appears as a minute somewhat
opaque thickening at the angles; frond in side view about
twice as long as broad, oblong; constriction, a shallow emar-
gination, ends broadly rounded, each furnished at each
opposite side with a single short acute divergent mucro; end
view broadly fusiform, about twice as long as broad, the body
bearing on each side, near the acutely cuspidate extremities,
two short acute divergent mucrones. Zygospore unknown.

Measurements.—Length of frond, +3;;; breadth, z5;
at constriction, =;';5; depth (thickness), =, of an inch,

176 ARCHER, ON TWO NEW SPECIES OF COSMARIUM.

Plate VI, fig. 50, front view; 51, side view; 52, end view
of frond; 58, 54, dividing fronds; 55, abnormal frond.

Affinities and differences—As to the specific distinctness
of this minute form, there seems to me not the smallest doubt
or difficulty. There might, however, in the opinion of some,
be a question as to its generic position ; for it seems possible
that the same conflicting views which have been held by
different observers as regards Arthrodesmus octocornis might
also be held with respect to this new form. <Arthrodesmus
octocornis, Ehr., Hass., Bréb., &c., was at one time placed in
the genus of Xanthidium and Ehrenberg—Meneghini and
Kiitzing considered it a Micrasterias—Ralfs looks upon it as
doubtfully a Xanthidium—but whatever be the proper position
of that species, there can be little doubt, I think, but that the
present form belongs to the same genus, and I should un-
doubtedly be disposed to consider that to be Arthrodesmus.
Indeed, the only question, as it appears to me, is whether it
be Xanthidium or Arthrodesmus. ‘Taking Arthrodesmus incus
or A. convergens as typical of the genus, there does, indeed,
appear some dissimilarity between them and such as A. bifidus,
Bréb., A. octocornis, and the present form, but I imagine
the former are more closely related to certain Staurastra than
are the latter to Xanthidium. For A. convergens and A.
octocornis may, lL imagine, be almost looked on as Staurastra,
two-sided, not three—or more—sided, in end view—the first
having most affinity to such forms as Staurastrum Dickiet, or
S. dejectum, or S. brevispina, the latter having greatest rela-
tionship to S. glabrum or S. O?Mearui. Three or more im
number of sides (or angles) in end view, in Staurastrum, is
quite well known not to be of any generic or even specific
value, therefore two only may be of as little import. But m
giving expression to such a view, whatever might be the dif-
‘ference of opinion as to the generic position in the case of the
species just mentioned, there cannot, I should think, be the
smallest donbt as to their specific distinctness; but that is
not the question at present. Arthrodesmus octocornis, on the
other hand, seems to possess (especially through a plant I
myself described as Xanthidium Smithii) considerable affinity
to Xanthidium, in which genus it was hesitatingly placed by
Ralfs. But it differs therefrom in having its marginal spines
disposed in a single, not a double, series, nor scattered; and
secondly, and, as [ think, in a more important circumstance,
in its wanting the prominences occupying the centre of both
front surfaces of each segment characteristic of Xanthidium.
Again, Arthrodesmus bifidus, Bréb., cannot at all be said to
be spinous, but its sub-reniform quadrangular segments are

ARCHER, ON TWO NEW SPECIES OF COSMARIUM. 177

at each opposite lateral extremity simply bicuspidate, and it
could not, therefore, be placed in the genus Xanthidium, of
which an essential and marked character is to be distinctly
spinous, besides the central protuberances. Nor could, as I
conceive, these two species (A. octocornis and A. bifidus) be
placed otherwise than in the same genus, and I should be dis-
posed to take them as typical of Arthrodesmus rather than
those forms whose segments have a single spine only on each
side. Now, notwithstanding that (unlike A. octocornis) my
new form has its mucrones not arranged in a single series,
but, as above described, possesses four at the ends of the
segments, as seen in end view convergent and equidistantly
disposed, there is yet too much generic similarity in front
view, combined with the absence of the central protuberances,
to regard A. octocornis, my new form, and A. bifidus, as be-
longing otherwise than to the same genus, and that genus not
Xanthidium, but Arthrodesmus—unless, indeed, Mr. Jenner’s
original suggestion should be carried out, and they be made
into a new genus, connecting such forms as A. incus and A.
convergens, &c., with Staurastrum; but I am disposed to
imagine, as above indicated, that the forms in question belong
properly to Arthrodesmus, Ehr., whilst their allies, such as
A. incus, &e., are more likely in reality two-sided Staurastra.

This species, lke others of this family, is subject to an
abnormal mode of growth, by which the intervening new
portions, instead of becoming shut off, remain confluent,
forming, with the old segments, but one uninterrupted cavity
(Fig. 55). This irregularity I have myself noticed in many
species, and it has been figured and described by several
observers ; it is simply a monstrosity.*

Supposing the question of the genus determined, but quite
irrespective of it, this new form is quite distinct as a species,
and cannot be mistaken for any other. Its size alone would
almost distinguish it from any other Desmid ; for, notwith-
standing that the measurements of Cosmarium tinctum, and
of the Cosmarium I have just described above (C. pygmeum),
are not much greater, the present species probably enjoys the
distinction, so far as I am aware, of being the very smallest

* See Mrs. H. Thomas, ‘ Quart. Journ. Mic. Sci.,? Vol. TI, Pl. V, figs.
17, 18; Hofmeister, ‘Bericht der K. Sachs. Ges der Wissench. zu Leipzig,’
1857, Heft I; De Brébisson, ‘ Listes des Desmidiées observées en Basse-
Normandie,” tab. i, fig. 15; De Bary, ‘ Untersuchungen iiber die Fam. d.
Conjugaten,” p. 47, t. vi, fig. 53; W. Archer, ‘Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Dub-
lin,’ vol. ii, p. 207, figs. 1O—15 ; also ‘ Nat. Hist. Review,’ O. S., vol. vi,
p. 469, pl. xxxiii, figs. 10~--15; and again, ‘ Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Dublin,’
yol. iii, p. 37, pl. i, fig. 7; and ‘ Nat. Hist. Review,’ O. 8., vol. vii, p. 391,
pl. xiii, fig. 7.

178 ARCHER, ON TWO NEW SPECIES OF COSMARIUM.

of the free species of the family, for the concavities of the
form under consideration render its actual bulk or volume
very appreciably less. It is, therefore, considerably smaller
than any other Arthrodesmus. From <Arthrodesmus bifidus,
Bréb., its straight, not curved and bicuspidate, segments and
its four terminal mucrones in end view, abundantly distinguish
it. From <dArthrodesmus octocornis it is distinguished by its
much less elongate and less acute lateral extremities, which
in the latter are, as well as the upper angles, prolonged into
single or double spines, all divergent in front view—while in
the new form the four external spines are well seen only in
the edge views, and are not in a single series. From A.
octocornis, var. [3, as well as from Xanthidium Smithii, (mihi)
this species is distinguished by its not having a double spine at
each angle, and from the latter also, by the want of the central
protuberances. But, besides these more tangible and promi-
nent diagnostic distinctions, I need hardly remind those who
are thoroughly acquainted with this elegant family of Alge,
that each of them—these new ones included—presents to the
familiarised a special tout ensemble of its own, difficult, per-
haps, to define in words, but, in my mind, not the less actual,
constant, distinctive, and characteristic.

Note.—I have in the foregoing made use of, and shall for
the future employ, the more apt term “ Zygospore,” as sug-
gested by Professor De Bary in his work ‘“ Untersuchungen
tiber die Familie der Conjugaten,” in preference to the seem-
ingly inappropriate and inaccurate term “ Sporangium” of
most other authors.

Genus—Cosmarivum, Corda.
Cosmarium exiguum, sp. nov.

Specific characters.—Frond very minute, smooth, oblong,
rather more than twice as long as broad; segments sub-
quadrate ; starch granule single, central.

Locality.x—Dublin mountains ; not very rare.

General Description.—Frond very minute, smooth; in front
view, rather more than twice as long as broad, constriction
deep, linear, acute ; segments in front view very slightly longer
than broad, sub-quadrate, sides sometimes very slightly
tapering, angles somewhat rounded, ends rotundato-truncate,
with a very gentle, often nearly imperceptible, minute central
depression; starch granule single, central; in side view the
constriction acute within, widening outwards, segments some

ARCHER, ON TWO NEW SPECIES OF COSMARIUM. 179

what longer than broad, broadly elliptic, ends rounded ; end
view broadly elliptic; empty frond colourless, not punctate.
Zygospore unknown.

Measurements. — Length, ;1,; breadth, -'>;; depth,
ss's@ Of an inch.

Fig. 32, front view; fig. 33, side view.

Affinities and differences.—The oblong non-crenate figure
and smooth surface of this little form will readily distin-
guish it from every other at all agreeing with it in dimen-
sions, such as Cosmarium Meneghinii ; its size is, besides,
in every way maller than that of that species. It is, indeed,
amongst the largest species that a similarity of figure is to be
found ; and indeed, as far as concerns outward form alone,
it is difficult to define in a diagnosis the characters which
separate this little species from C. cucumis, Corda. In both
the frond is oblong and smooth, deeply constricted ; the seg-
ments subquadrate. But the linear dimensions of this new
form are some three or four times less than those of the
latter ; moreover, the former is sometimes more than twice
as long as broad—the latter is less than twice as long as
broad; and, leaving the dimensions out of view, this cha-
racter, apparently slight, would help to an identification.
But as concerns dimensions, it would be as little necessary to
compare Docidium minutum with D. nodulusum or D. trun-
catum, or Euastrum elegans with E. oblongum or E. crassum,
or Closterium Cornu with C. acerosum, &c. This new form
differs, too, almost as greatly in size from Cosmariwm quad-
ratum, Ralfs, and moreover wants the protuberance at each
side near the base of each segment present in that species.
Thus, though the agreement in figure of this new form with
the species referred to it is considerable, I cannot fancy
their beg mistaken. But, moreover, the endochrome in
this new form has embedded in it in each segment but one
central large starch-granule. From C. cucurbita, Bréb.,
this form is quite distinguished by its deep linear constric-
tion and non-punctate cell-wall, besides dimensions and
other special points at once recognisable by those acquainted
with these species ; and, besides those mentioned, there are
none others with which it is in the least necessary to be con-
trasted.

Genus—Perntum, Bréb.
Prentum MoorEANnvM, sp. noy.

Specific characters,—Frond very minute, about one third
longer than broad, sides somewhat barrel-shaped, ends trun-

180 ARCHER, ON TWO NEW SPECIES OF COSMARIUM.

cato-rotund; no clear space with moving granules at the
extremities; zygospore quadrangular, oblong, compressed,
angles mamillate, extremities nipple-like.

Locality —Featherbed Bog, and near Lough Bray, con-
jugated.

General Description.— Frond very minute, about one
third longer than broad, sub-elliptic, sides somewhat barrel-
shaped, ends truncato-rotund; endochrome dense, a single
large (amylaceous) granule in each half, and showing two or
three indistinct longitudinal “ fillets,’ and an instinct, pale
central band; no moving granules at the extremities; end
view, orbicular or very broadly elliptic; empty cell-wall
colourless, without markings. Zygospore in front-view quad-
rangular, oblong, about 10:6 longer than broad, compressed,
margins somewhat concave at the centre, angles produced,
mamillate, nipple-like at the extremities; contents sparing,
scattered ; in side view elongate, often with a slight con-
cavity at each side, ends rounded, extremities nipple-like ;
in end view, ovate, accuminate, extremities nipple-hke. The
empty parent-cell-membranes persistent at each end of the
zygospore. If, as is mostly the case, the parent-cells con-
jugate in a parallel position, the zygospore possesses a regular
cushion-like figure, all its angles lying in the same plane
(Fig. 39). But if, during the conjugation, the parent-cells
lie at right angles to each other, there is then a correspond-
ing twist in the form of the zygospore, and in this case the
angles at. one of its ends lie in a plane at right angles to
those of the other. Apparently from a similar cause, any
intermediate degree of relationship in this regard may thus
take place. Misshapen or irregularly contorted zygospores
occasionally, but exceptionally occur, in which one of the
corners may be inordinately drawn out, or the usual relative
proportions of length, breadth, and depth become partially or
locally interfered with. The mamillate form of the angles,
and their nipple-lhke extremities, are maintained, however,
in all cases (figs. 39—44). The conjugating, as well as
dividing, cells are surrounded by a distinctly bounded gela-
tinous investment, which afterwards disappears.

Measurements. —Leneth, +s'zz3 breadth, 5,5; depth,
+75 of an inch.

Length of zygospore, -1, to ;14,; breadth, +3.

Pl. VI, Fig. 34, frond with endochrome; 35, dividing
frond; 36—88, commencing conjugation; 39, front view of
zygospore; 40, side view of same; 4], end view of same;
42—44,, variously twisted zygospores.

Affi nities and differences.—I do not doubt but there might

ARCHER, ON TWO NEW SPECIES OF COSMARIUM. 181

be some who, on looking at the mature unconjugated condi-
tion only of this little plant, on account of its simple form
and minute size, would be disposed to regard it merely as an
indescribable nonentity—perhaps a dwindled or staryed ex-
ample of some other form—or, at best, as only a transitional
or gradational variety. It is true that, like many of its im-
mediate allies, it is only a minute, elliptic, or, as I have tried
to describe it, barrel-shaped cell; nevertheless, the first
moment I noticed it, even in its unconjugated state, I
thought not so, but felt that it was indeed a new form, which
I had never seen before.

It is distinctly a species of Penium, Bréb., the structure of
its cell-contents removing it from Cylindrocystis, Menegh.,
or Mesotenium, Nig.,—the entire want of a central con-
striction separating it from certain species of Cosmarium,
Corda,—the same, as well as the want of a terminal notch,
placing it apart from Tetmemorus, Ralfs. I do not believe
that it can be mistaken for any other species in the genus
Penium, its minute size alone readily distinguishing it. Ir-
respective of its minuteness, there is no other species of
Penium in which the length of the cell is so short in propor-
tion to its width, all other species, with the exception of P.
(Dysphinctium) annulatum, Nag., being several times longer
than broad, while the species just referred to is about twice
as long as broad. And this relationship of comparative
length and breadth I believe to be in this family a by no
means unimportant character, though undoubtedly of so little
value in others. Nor would I wish to be understood that
here even this character is decisive; but when it is found
that a pretty constant steadiness of relative length and breadth
of most species is associated with other characters, it becomes,
I think, a useful and readily applied diagnostic distinction,
ancillary but subservient to other more special ones. From
Penium annulatum, Nig., then, besides its less comparative
length, this species is distinguished by its non-cylindrical
outline and smooth cell-membrane. From P. Navicula,
Bréb., this species is distinguished by its less comparative
length, and by its broadly elliptic or barrel-shaped, not navi-
cular, cells, and by the want of a terminal clear space with
moving granules. There is no other Penium for which it
could possibly be mistaken.

From Cosmarium curtum, Bréb., it is distinguished by its
shorter comparative length, and the entire want of a con-
striction, by its broadly elliptic, not attenuated, ovate outline,
and by the “ fiilets”’ of the endochrome being far less de-
cidedly marked. From Cosmariwm cucurbita, Bréb., it is

182 DR. BEALE, ON CONTRACTILITY.

separated by its much smaller size, by the entire absence of
a constriction, by its elliptic form, and by its smooth, not
punctate, cell-membrane.

From all these, and every other member of the family, it
is, moreover, further distinguished by the remarkable form of
its zygospore. It is possible that this may in some measure
agree in nature with that of Tetmemorus levis, Ralfs; but
even if found isolated, it could not be mistaken for that of
that species, differing, as it does, in form and size therefrom.
But, as before stated, this plant is no Tetmemorus, wanting,
as it does, a terminal notch and central constriction. I say
it is possible that the quadrate, or cruciately-lobed zygospore
of this species, may agree in nature with that of 7. levis ; but
although there is in all my specimens of the new Penium a
tendency in the cell-contents of the zygospore to become
collected towards the middle, I have not once noticed the
formation of an inner coat, as happens in 7. levis. Yet it
may have been that my specimens were not sufficiently
matured. We are here, too, reminded of the zygospore in
Closterium Cornu and others, Stauroceras, Kiitz.; but even if
found isolated, the zygospores never could by possibility be
mistaken the one for the other. There is the common cir-
cumstance, however, that the parent cell-membranes remain
persistently attached to the zygospore. Thus this little
Penium possibly points out new cross affinities, to Tetme-
morus on the one hand (although, as is well known, in that
genus dwo forms of zygospore occur, as indeed this new form
proves for the genus Penium), and to certain species of Clo-
sterium on the other.

It affords me great pleasure indeed to avail myself of the
opportunity to name so distinct a species after David Moore,
Ph.D., F.L.8., M.R.LA., &c., of the Glasnevin Botanic
Garden, not only as a token, inadequate though it be, of
respect for that gentleman’s high scientific attainments and
of my personal esteem for himself, but also as commemorative
of a very agreeable little excursion, when we had each the
pleasure to be of the party, on which occasion I first gathered
Pentium Mooreanum.

On “ContrRactiLity”’ as distinguished from puRELY VITAL
Movements. By Lionet S. Bearz, M.B., F.R.S.

Tere are probably few actions more different than the
contraction of a muscle or the vibration of cilia, and the move-
ments which occur in a living Ameeba, in a living mucus:

DR. BEALE, ON CONTRACTILITY. 183

corpuscle, or young epithelial cell; but it is generally considered
that all these movements depend on a property which has
long been known as contractility. And yet one would hardly
conceive it possible that even a casual observer, who had
attentively watched ciliary or muscular action, and the move-
ments of an Ameeba, for example, would fail to discern a
remarkable difference in the movements he observed, although
he might be quite unable to define in what essential points
the movements differed. Not only are there essential dif-
ferences between these (at least) two classes of movements,
both of which occur in all the higher organisms, but I think
it can be shown that the matter which is the seat of the
observed motion is not of the same nature in each case.
I have endeavoured to prove that the so-called moving matter
(sarcode) of an Amceba or of a mucus-corpuscle, white blood
or pus-corpuscle, corresponds to, or is homologous with, the so-
called “ nucleus,” and not with contractile material of muscle.
The moving matter of the former and the so-called “nucleus ”
of the latter correspond, and I have termed this living or
germinal matter, while the latter I consider to be formed
matter, and therefore no longer the seat of vital changes.

In a paper published in the last number of my “ Archives,”’
I have adduced facts in favour of the view that masses of
germinal matter not only alter their form, but move from
place to place. The movements which affect the germinal
matter of muscle are of a nature essentially different from
the contraction of the muscular tissue; but the movements
observed in all kinds of germinal matter are, I believe, the
same in their essential nature. Thus the movements in the
Tradescantia, and many vegetable cells, the movements of
the pseudopodia of the Foraminifera, those of the Ameeba,
&e., are undoubtedly of the same nature as those which
occur in the mucus- and pus-corpuscles, young epithelial
cells, germinal matter of the ‘corpuscles’ of the cornea, and
every other kind of germinal matter.

For the sake of discussion it is only necessary to take one
example of the two classes of movements which have been
included under the head of Contractility, and I will, there-
fore, contrast the movements of the mucus-corpuscle and the
contraction of muscle.

With regard to the muscle :—When contraction occurs it
diminishes in length, and increases in width and thickness,
The matter of which it is composed, for the most part, moves
alternately in two directions, at right angles to one another.
Each particle of contractile material retains the same relation
with respect to neighbouring particles during the relaxed

184 DR. BEALE, ON CONTRACTILITY.

and contracted state. It is impossible that a particle could
move from its position at one or other end of the muscle, for
instance, and take up a position amongst the particles in
its central part. Shortening and elongating, thinning and
thickening, widening and narrowing, relaxing and contract-
ing, convey an idea of what occurs in the contractile tissue
of muscle, and each action is a repetition of the last. Al-
though the actions may differ in degree, still the changes
which occur in the relative position of the particles are the
same for every action.

Now with reference to the mucus-corpuscle, no language
could convey an idea of the changes which take piace in
form ; every part of the surface of a corpuscle may be seen to
change within a few seconds. The material which was in one
part may move to another part. Not only does the position of
the component particles alter with respect to one another, but it
never remains the same. There is no alternation of movement.
Were it possible to take hundreds of photographs, at the brief-
est intervals, with the utmost rapidity, no two would be exactly
alike, nor would they exhibit different gradations of the same
change, nor is it possible to represent the movements with any
degree of accuracy by drawings, because the outline 1s chang-
ing in many parts at the same moment. ‘The varying stages
of contraction and relaxation of a muscular fibre may be
represented with great accuracy, because the changes occur
with regularity, and they are repeated, but it is impossible
to premise the successive alterations in form of a mass of
living matter, for it never assumes the same form twice.

And now to account for these movements,—the component
particles evidently alter their positions in a most remarkable
manner. One particle may move in advance of another, or
round another. <A portion may move info or out of another
portion. A bulging may occur at one point of the circum-
ference, or at ten or twenty different pomts at the same
moment. The moving power evidently resides in every par-
ticle, of a very transparent, invariably colourless, and struc-
tureless material. By the very highest powers, only an
indication of minute spherical particles can be discerned.
Because “ molecules”’ have been seen in some of the masses of
moving matter, the motion has been attributed to these.
It is true the particles do move, but the living transparent
material in which the molecules are placed moves first, and
these flow into the extended portion. The movements can-
not, therefore, be ordinary molecular movements. It has been
said that the movements may result from diffusion, but what
diffusion or other movement with which we are acquainted

DR. BEALE, ON CONTRACTILITY. 185

at all resembles these? Observers have ascribed them to a
different density in different parts, but who has ever been
able to produce such movements by preparing fluids of dif-
ferent density; but further, these fluids of different density
must make themselves and retain themselves of different
density. We may certainly imitate, to some extent, the
process of contraction of muscular tissue; but apart from
living things nothing has ever been obtained which exhibits
phenomena resembling those which are so familiar to us in
the movements of a common Ameeba.

Next as to the matter which is the seat of these two classes
of movements. I have endeavoured to prove that every
elementary part consists of matter which is living, and matter
which is formed, of germinal matter and formed material.
Now the contractile tissue of muscle is formed material. It
is homologous with the so-called intercellular substance of
tendon, cartilage, the cornea, and other connective tissues, with
the outer part of the epithelial cell, with the “ cell-wall”’ of the
vegetable cell, &c. The “nucleus” of the muscle bears the
same relation to the contractile tissue as the “ nucleus”’ of the
white fibrous tissues bears to that substance,—that of an epi-
thelial cell to its outer part, the primordial utricle to the cell-
wall of the vegetable cell, and the so-called mucus-corpuscle
to the mucus in which it lies, the “ pus-corpuscle” to the
‘liquor puris,’” &c. It is germinal matter.

Now, every kind of formed material was once in the state
of germinal matter. Formed material in no case produces
formed material, nor is formed material simply deposited
from the nutrient fluids as crystalline matter is deposited from
its solution; but formed material results from changes occur-
ring in germinal matter. Muscular tissue which contracts is
continuous with the nuclei or masses of germinal matter
of muscle, and was produced from germinal matter. This
germinal matter produces contractile tissue just as the ger-
minal matter of tendon produces tendon, that of cartilage,
cartilage, and so on. Hence the mucus-corpuscle, white
blood-corpuscle, Amczba, &c., correspond to the so-called
“nucleus ” of a muscle only, not to its formed material; and
any changes occurring in the latter must needs be essentially
different from those taking place in the former. It is clear
that muscle, which is formed material, must be formed before
it can contract; but movements occur in germinal matter
from the very moment of its first production. The movements
of the matter in the first or germinal state are distmet from
the movements which are incidental to its second or formed
state. But let it not be supposed that these are the only

VOL. IV.— NEW SER. ©

186 DR. BEALE, ON CONTRACTILITY.

differences that can be demonstrated between germinal matter
and formed material.

The mass of germinal matter may move from place to
place. A portion of muscular tissue moves within a given
space, but does not move itself away from the position it
occupied. The muscle’ cannot extend a portion of itself
from any part of its surface to some distance from the general
mass and draw it back again, nor can it detach a portion
from itself from every part of which protrusions may occur
after it has been detached. Again, if a part of the mucus-
corpuscles dies, that which still lives moves away from the
altered portion. Now, a part of muscle which still possesses
contractile power, does not move away from that which has
ceased to contract. But the movements of the mucus-cor-
puscle and of other forms of germinal matter form but a
small part of the characteristics which distinguish it from
every kind of formed material. It absorbs matter, effects
its decomposition, and converts certain of its elements into
matter having the same properties as it possesses itself.

Many observers in the present day seem to think that all
motion is essentially the same, and argue that because
there are reasons for thinking that muscular motion, and
even certain forms of nervous action, like heat, electricity,
&c., are merely different modes of primary motion, there-
fore we must admit that every kind of movement occurring in
living organisms is of the same order. But the vital actions
of living matter are very different from the phenomena
occurring in any kind of formed material. The formed
material may be arranged so as to form a mechanism which,
however elaborate, may be governed by the same laws as
other mechanisms; but what of the matter which produced
the formed mechanism? It is this that the physicist should
study before he discards vital as distinguished from every
other force or power, and. assumes that life is but another
form of ordinary force, heat, or motion. So far, the movement
of living matter, the modifying power exerted by living upon
lifeless matter, the converting and forming power of living matter,
have utterly baffled all attempts at explanation, and the more
minutely the phenomena, which are open to the observation
of all are studied, the more marvellous and inscrutable do
they appear.

Dr. Carpenter has drawn attention to the manifest absurdity
of supposing that all the force manifested in the fully formed
organism existed in the germ in a concentrated form, and
adopts the opinion that fresh organizing force is constantly
being supplied from without. This organizing force is in fact

DR. BEALE, ON CONTRACTILITY. 187

heat.* Another writer goes the length of asserting that
different quantities of force are absorbed in the formation of
different cells. One equivalent of a high form of force cor-
responds to many equivalents of an inferior kind of force. Thus
a single nerve-cell, in its formation, consumes an equivalent
of force which would suffice for the production of a large
quantity of cabbage! -It only remains for this philosopher to
demonstrate the vast amount of force set free at the moment of
the death of the nerve-cell as compared with that which ema-
nates from the cells of the dying cabbage, and his demonstra-
tion will be complete ;—thus the identity of vital force with
heat and primary motion will be established, and the exact
amount of force liberated by the blood-cell, the epithelial-
cell, and the nerve-cell, as they return to undergo the retro-
grade metamorphosis, will be quantitatively estimated.

_ In these views it will be observed that the action of tissue
is not sufficiently distinguished from its production. Its
formation and construction are not distinguished from the
effects of its destruction. Doubtless, in the disintegration
and chemical decomposition of the matter of a nerve-cell,
force is set free, as in other forms of chemical decomposi-
tion; but this is not vital action at all. It is simply the
decomposition of matter which is already formed, and has
perhaps long ceased to dive. What we want to know is,
the condition of the force which is in relation with the
matter of which the living or germinal matter consists, The
action of a muscle, and the formation of a muscle, are two
very different processes. The consideration of the one may
belong to physics, but the other has nothing whatever to do
with physics. The life of the muscle is not identical with the
action of the muscle. The living part of muscle can move,
but it does not contract like the muscle. It can produce
more muscle, but the contracted tissue possesses no such
power.

The view which I have been led to take upon this question is
very easily expressed in a few words. I think that every
tissue or organism consists of matter that lives and matter
that is formed. ‘The first is the seat of peculiar change sui
generis, which never occurs in things inanimate. The second
manifests phenomena which are, properly considered, phy-
sical and chemical. The movements, the decomposing and
the formative, the analytical and synthetical power, of the
living matter, are due to the operation of a power or force or
energy which is not to be measured by the work achieved, nor

* On the application of the principle of “ Conservation of Force to Phy-
siology,” by Dr. Carpenter.—‘ Quarterly Journal of Science,’ vol. 3, p. 82.

188 DR. BEALE, ON CONTRACTILITY.

to be altered or converted into other*forms of force. It is a
power that may be transmitted from particle ‘to particle,
or that may cease its manifestation for ever. How it originated
we have not the slightest knowledge. We only know that
now it is always propagated from particle to particle, “and
that it cannot be transferred to particles at a distance. Heat
is but one of the conditions under which this wonderful
power manifests itself, not the power itself.

Contractility is a, property of muscle. Contraction and
elasticity are properties of fibrin, just as hardness is a pro-
perty of horn, or nail, or bone, &c.; but motion, increase,
formation, as manifested in germinal matter, are transmitted
from particles that possess them, to particles of matter that
do not. Muscle does not transmit its contractile property nor
yellow elastic tissue, its elasticity, to matter which is devoid of
these characteristics. Hence, I distinguish the movements of
germinal or living matter from the movements of muscular
tissue; and, surely, I may correctly term them vital move-
ments until some one proyes that similar movements occur in
matter which is not alive.

CONCLUSIONS.

1. The movements of a mass of germinal or living matter,
and muscular contraction, are phenomena essentially different.

2. The contractile material of the muscle does not cor-
respond to the moving matter of a mucus-corpuscle, white
blood-corpuscle, amceba, &c.; but the so-called nucleus of
the muscle alone corresponds to this moving matter.

3. The movements in living or germinal matter are vital
movements, for no movements like them occur in any form
of matter which is not alive, and which has not been
obtained from a living organism.

4, Muscular and nervous action are accompanied by
chemical change, and correspond to a certain definite
amount of work, which may be represented as heat, motion,
&c., but there is no evidence to show that the vital move-
ments described, perform work, are accompanied by chemical
change, or can be converted into any form or mode of
ordinary force. otter eee

It will be noticed, that in this paper, I have discussed
simply the vital actions of germinal or living matter.. 1 have
not spoken of the “life” of man, of an animal; or of an
entire plant. The phenomena of which such “ life” is made
up, make it very different from the “ life” of germinal matter.

TRANSLATION.

On Morite PHENOMENA in SponGeEs. By N. Linseexian,
(Abstracted from ‘Reichert and Du Bois-Reymond’s
Archiy.), 1863, p. 717).

Tue motile phenomena hitherto observed in sponges are
connected with larger or smaller portions of the external inte-
gument and of the exhalent tubules, or with isolated cells.
When the exhalent tubules of Spongilla contract, their walls be-
come shortened and thickened, and the previously smooth
surface uneven, from the presence of the spherical contracted
cells, whose outlines at the same time are rendered very
distinct, whilst they were before invisible, or, at most, here and
there indistinctly perceptible. This contraction may proceed
so far as to give the entire tubule the appearance of a mass of
cells. The external membrane with which the sponge is
covered exhibits its contractile property most clearly when
separated to some distance from the substance of the body ; on
contracting, it either approaches nearer, or applies itself closely
to, the subjacent parts, whilst the inhalent orifices open and
close. Other motile phenomena are witnessed when a Spon-
gilla with external membrane and exhalent canals is pro-
duced from a cut-off portion. The fragment thus cut off
may be so thin as to consist of only a single layer of reti-
cular parenchymatous fibres. The interstitial rounded, oval,
or irregular spaces, under these circumstances, become for
the most part closed, owing to the gradual increase in breadth
of the trabeculz ; or cavities may be left when their mem-
branes are stretched over them only from the upper and
under sides of the trabecule, which enclose a space between
them, and may become portions of the outer membrane,
with exhalent canals. It cannot be determined with cer-
tainty to what extent this change of form is connected
with any multiplication of cells. Lastly, movements in the
individual cells have been noticed, the globular cells having

190 LIEBERKUHN, ON MOTILE

been described as assuming a stellate figure, the stellate ones
in turn becoming globular, but also this without any loco-
motion. This phenomenon occurs, not only in the cells of
the uninjured substance, but also in those which have been
detached. But locomotion has not as yet been described, and
it is to this point that the following observations relate.

In all specimens of Spongille, whether developed from ova
or from gemmules, or from separated portions, the most
varied arrangement of the parenchymatous tissues may be
seen, whilst the siliceous skeleton in the different species
retains the same characteristic form. When the external
membrane is quite transparent, we may observe, in many
instances, a cavernous structure, consisting of more or less
completely closed cavities, of irregular form, and of which the
superficial ones are bounded by the external membrane, and
admit the water which flows in through the inhalent orifices.
Occasionally, however, they are not furnished with these
external orifices, but have others communicating with the
exhalent canals. Instead of these cavities, wider canals
may also be seen, ramifying over a large portion of the
sponge, and which open directly into the exhalent passages ;
in this way a considerable extent of the external membranes
may be unfurnished with inhalent orifices. In other cases,
however, these orifices exist over almost the entire surface
of the sponge, and usually lead directly into a large cayity
belonging to the inhalent system. The irregular septa, by
which these cavities are bounded, contain in their walls the
ciliary apparatus. All these cavities, whether belonging to
the in- or exhalent system, may be traversed by parenchy-
matous trabecule of the most various thickness, and similar
trabecule may sometimes even be seen crossing the exha-
lent canals. These trabecule are sometimes very closely
approximated, and, at the same time, are so broad and thin,
that an observer might suppose that he was looking at a
portion of the outer membrane with inhalent orifices.

In other instances no membraniform septa of this kind
are to be seen; but, instead of them, nearly the whole body
is pervaded by slenderer or thicker trabeculez, which are con-
nected at numerous points with the external membrane,
and are continued beneath it to great lengths. They exhibit
a great variety of aspect; sometimes no indication whatever
of a cellular structure is apparent in them, and they appear
to be bounded by a smooth, transparent fine contour, whilst
in the interior may be seen numerous strongly refracting
granules, more or less closely crowded together. In. the
finest of these filaments, even when viewed by a stronger

PHENOMENA IN SPONGES. 191

magnifying power, even these granules cannot be perceived.
Within the thicker trabeculz are placed the ciliated organs,
which, like the trabeculz themselves, are also situated imme-
diately beneath the external membrane, and in contact
with it.

In other cases the trabeculz have a totally different aspect,
becoming moniliform or beaded, the constituent cells of
which they are composed being distinctly defined. More-
over, several rows of cells of this kind may be seen in
contact, and the cells in such close contiguity that the
whole appears like an epithelium detached from its sub-
stratum. At the same time the cells may be globular or
depressed, and may assume a stellate or polyhedral shape. In
other cases, again, they are separated by a transparent
substance, so that the whole filament appears even on the
surface, globular or irregular masses being seen only in the
interior, and which are also surrounded by a transparent
substance. In these granular masses may frequently be
observed nuclei, with nucleoli, which, in any case, belong to
the cell-contents, whilst the transparent substance may be
referred both to this as well as to the membrane.

All the above-described conditions of the parenchyma may
be witnessed in succession in one and the same specimen of
Spongilla, and this even within so short a time that they must
be regarded as motile phenomena. The observation may be
very readily made under a low power in a suitable specimen,
placed in a watch-glass filled with water. In this way the
author observed the smooth, homogeneous septa become thick
trabeculz, which presented a cellular structure and assumed
the moniliform appearance. He also noticed how two fila-
ments in contact with the external membrane, and each
consisting of a single series of cells, and separated from each
other by more than the diameter of a cell, became so con-
joined as to constitute an apparently homogeneous septum.
Within the space of half an hour this process extended
over a great part of the sponge; whilst, again, in other
places smooth fibres became moniliform. At the same time
cavities, having a diameter equal to the length of a spicule,
closed up, new ones making their appearance at other. points,
and visibly enlarging whilst the observation was going on.
Sometimes two cavities, separated from each other by a deli-
cate septum, coalesced into a single one, by the enlargement
of one of them, whilst the filaments became slenderer
and slenderer, and ultimately united with the walls of the
other cavity, which was all the while diminishing in size.
In another instance the inhalent orifices of the outer mem-

192 LIEBERKUHN, ON MOTILE

brane enlarged in such a manner and to such a degree that
at last nothing but a network of filaments remained, exactly
like that constituting the internal parenchyma, with which, in
the course of the day, it became so united that the whole struc-
ture completely lost the usual appearance of a sponge, since
even the exhalent eanal had disappeared. In this condition
the sponge resembled a gigantic Rhizopod lodged in a siliceous
skeleton. Even with the naked eye the stronger filaments
might be seen, constituting a network of whitish filaments
within the skeleton. . These, however, did not long retain
their form, but became thicker or slenderer in the most
various degrees ; but so slowly, nevertheless, that the change
could not be directly witnessed, though its reality could be
concluded upon from the alteration in form. In the interior
of some of the trabeculz were enclosed large balls of detritus,
but whence derived could not usually be determined ; in only
a few cases could the author recognise in them traces of
decomposed cells of Alge. The cells of the outer membrane
precisely resemble those of the internal parenchyma; in the
state of contraction above described they coalesce as readily
with the latter as those do with each other. It appears, even
in Spongille which have originated in detached portions, that
the external membrane may be formed in a few hours from
the cells of any part of the tissue. Nor are the inhalent
orifices by any means characteristic of the outer membrane,
since orifices of exactly the same kind may be observed in
the internal membraniform septa. Besides this, in the so-
termed process of “conjugation” the cells of the outer
membrane unite, not only with the same cells of the other
individual, but equally well with those of the rest of the
parenchyma.

Very remarkable are the changes of place witnessed in
the individual cells in the transparent exhalent passages.
The latter, especially in their deeper parts, frequently consist
of several layers of cells; the outermost of these layers is a
continuation of the outer membrane of the sponge, whilst the
inner ones are continuous with the rest of the parenchymatous
tissue. These cells may occasionally be seen, whilst under-
going a continual change of form, to move slowly upwards
and downwards. Sometimes, also, an individual cell may be
seen to penetrate between two which retain their position,
and ‘afterwards follow the other, whilst the form of the canal
retains its general form unaltered. In some points of the outer
membrane globular or conical protrusions not unfrequently
arise, which acquire the diameter and length of exhalent
tubes, and which may become annularly constricted, and

PHENOMENA IN SPONGES. 193

contract just like the latter, but without ever exhibiting any
opening. In asimilar way, in detached portions of Spongilla
several exhalent tubes are occasionally formed. Both in
these protrusions as well as in other parts of the outer mem-
brane vacuoles of the size of a cell-nucleus, or even larger,
may, not unfrequently, be seen to arise, which project above
the surface, lke the contractile receptacles in Actinophrys
Eichhornii.

The remainder of the paper relates more especially to the
multiplication of sponges by scission; but we are unable to
perceive that it contains anything novel of importance on
that subject.

REVIEWS.

The Utilization of Minute Life; being Practical Studies on
Insects, Crustacea, Mollusca, Worms, Polypes, Infusoria,
and Sponges. By Dr. T. L. Puipson, F.C.S. London,
Groombridge and Sons.

WE cannot give a better idea of the scope and intention of
this work than is conveyed in the author’s preface:

“ Zoology and Botany have been looked upon as constituting less
practical branches of Science than Chemistry or Astronomy, for instance.
The zoological works placed in the hands of students are necessarily so
full of anatomical details, details of classification, and observations upon
the habits and instincts of animals, that very little space has (or could
have) been afforded to notice the wonderful manner in which certain
animals contribute directly to the welfare of mankind, and the methods by
which they may be cultivated.

“ This remark is especially applicable to the lower classes of animals,
to the Invertebrata, and to these I have devoted the following pages,
Their investigation in a practical point of view has led, and will still lead,
to very profitable and interesting results. It has been rendered more
interesting of late years by numerous experiments, having for object
the culture and artificial propagation of several of the more valuable
species.

It is not sufficient to know that such an insect or such a polype is
utilized for certain purposes in the Arts and Manufactures; we must
acquire at the same time a correct idea of the animal itself, and the
position it occupies in the animal kingdom ; moreover, we must ascertain
by experiment whether any species already valuable in its natural state
cannot be rendered more so—cannot be submitted to culture, and propa-
gated more extensively by artificial means, and thereby increase the
benefits we derive from it.

“To exhibit the actual state of this interesting question is the task I
have imposed upon myself in the present work, which embraces the
practical history of a great number of animals, and from which I find it
impossible to exclude even the microscopic Infusoria.

‘“ When opportunity has been afforded I have mentioned a few pecu-
liarities observable in several species, for it has been my endeavour to
render the following pages interesting to the general student, as well as
to the practical zoologist.”

The idea is not a bad one, and Dr, Phipson appears to have

PHIPSON, ON THE UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 195

carried it out with considerable care and success. It sounds
at first strange to hear grubs, insects, animalcule, &c., spoken
of as “ domestic animals.” ‘ But,” says the author—

“But do we not rear our si/kworms with as much care as our sheep or
our cows? Do we not construct houses for our bees, cochineals, snails,
oysters, &c., as we do for our rabbits, our chickens, or our horses? Are
not large fortunes realised by the cultivation of a worm such as the
leech, or a grub such as the silkworm, as readily as by the aid of the
camel of the desert or the Indian elephant? Have we not seen a thimble-
ful of some new insect or its eggs fetch as high a price in the market as
the choicest Cochin-China fowl ?

“Tt is too true that these inferior beings are comparatively new to us
in this light. But their study affords far greater interest, and, in many
cases, undoubtedly more profit, than that of superior animals.

“Imagine a man in difficult circumstances endeavouring to gain a
livelihood by rearing some new variety of dog, cow, horse, ass, or pig. He
would have greater chance of success were he to extract some new
colouring matter from the insect world, or discover a means of doubling
the produce of the dee or the silkworm, or a method by which sponges
and corals might be cultivated with as much ease as a lettuce or a
cauliflower.

** My endeavour in this volume is to treat of izferior animals useful to
man, from insects downwards to infusoria and sponges. I leave it to
others to write the useful novelties that may concern quadrupeds, birds,
reptiles, and fishes. My observations treat of Invertebrata only.

“ Our readers have doubtless heard of a new species of culture which
has lately taken a very extensive development. It is called pisciculture,
or the breeding of fish, in which many eminent naturalists have met with
astonishing success. Their secret was, however, known long ago to the
Chinese. When a Chinaman wished to stock a pool with fish, he repaired
to some stream where the latter were known to abound, and placed in it
bundles of straw, which were soon covered with spawn. After a certain
time the straw was withdrawn and placed in his pool, where the eggs
were hatched, and the young fish soon became large enough to satisfy
their master’s appetite.

“The writings of Coste, Millet, Géhin, Milne-Edwards, De Quatre-
fages, Remy, and others, have not only taught us how to stock our
streams with magnificent salmon, trout, grayling, &c., but lead us to
expect that there will soon exist as many different varieties of trout,
salmon, perch, tench, &., as we have actually of dogs or horses. For
certain closely allied species have been crossed so as to produce new
varieties or races of fish never before seen.

Similar experiments are being made with inferior animals. The
attention of philosophers and practical men is now directed to the latter.
We speak now of the amelioration of some insect species, of the cultiva-
tion of a mollusc or a polype. We begin to see how we can profit by
infusoria or some other animalculz.”

He might also have adverted to the cultivation of the
oyster, which, when fully carried out, promises, according to
Mr. Buckland, to render a single breeding oyster a sufficient
legacy for a man to leave to his family.

The classes of animals more especially considered by
Dr. Phipson as objects of cultivation, or, as he terms it of

196 PHIPSON, ON THE UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE,

domestication, are—1. Silk-producing insects—treated of in
Chapter II. Many curious and interesting facts concerning
this useful class of insects will here be found; and amongst
these one which strongly exemplifies the enormous voracity
and capability of assimilation and consequent rapid growth
to which animal organisms may attain, and which may be
nearly said to equal what is witnessed among some of the
fungi, whose growth can almost be seen :

“ The larve born from one ounce of eggs require during their first age,
which lasts five days, about 7 lbs. weight “of mulberry leaves. After the
first moulting, and during the second age, which lasts only four days, they
require 21 Ibs. of leaf, During the third stage, which lasts a week, they
devour 70 Ibs. of mulberry leaf; in the fourth stage (also a week),
210lbs.; and during the fifth stage, from 1200 to 1300 lbs. of leaf. On
the sixth day of this last period, they devour as much as 200 lbs. weight
of leaf, with a noise resembling the fall of a heavy shower of rain. On
the tenth day they cease eating, and are about to undergo their first
metamorphosis.”

Another curious and important circumstance here noticed
is the apparent success that has attended the endeavours
to improve the breed of the common silkworm (Bombyx mori)
by M. André Jean, of Neuilly. This gentleman has proceeded
upon the principle of selection so extensively adopted in the
breeding of other animals of larger growth. And he has thus
been very successful in creating a valuable race of silkworms,
simply by causing the largest and finest male and female
moths to breed together. ‘The larve developed from these
eggs are of very large size when compared with the common
silkworm.

He next speaks of colour-producing imsects—of insects pro-
ducing wax, resin, honey, manna, &c. With reference to the
latter substance, or rather to the various substances included
under the term, although he mentions the production of an
edible manna from the Eucalyptus resinifera, he omits to notice
that it is, in fact, the produce of an insect ; of which an account
will be found in the fifth volumeof this Journal, underthe head of
“Laap or Lerp.” The substance so termed is one highly worthy
of the attentionof chemists, more especially as it seems to afford
an instance of the occurrence of a substance similar to that of
which starch-grains are composed, but which is amorphous,
and produced, as it would appear, in a semifluid form by an
insect which spins it into a beautiful. conical habitation,
presenting, under the microscope, very much the appearance of
a Chantilly basket composed of spun sugar.

Then we have an account of insects employed i in medicine,
food, &e. Amongst the latter are some which, in any case,
show to what extremities necessity will compel mankind.

PHIPSON, ON THE UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 197

Not to mention locusts, which are doubtless good and palat-
able food, what can be said of the natives of New Caledonia,
who devour roasted spiders about. au inch long; or of the
Indian children mentioned by Humboldt, who delight in
centipedes eighteen inches long; or of the Mexicans, who
consume in large quantities an aliment composed wholly of
the eggs of a Notonecta, &c. &e.

We have no space to notice the chapters on the Crustacea
aud Mollusca. Connected with the latter will be found some
interesting observations on the Tyrian purple, which, however,
would have been perhaps of more importance in an economical
point of view before the introduction of the beautiful aniline
colours. The chapter devoted to “Infusoria and other Ani-
maleule” will be found to contain much matter highly
interesting to microscopists.

The antiquarian, in bringing the microscope to bear in his researches,
and by the discovery of these siliceous shells of Infusoria in various
ancient articles of pottery, and the remains of similar species in the clay
of the vicinity in which they occur, has proved that these vases were
made upon the spot, and not imported from the higher civilised nations
of that day, as had been previously supposed. In like manner thieves
have been tracked and robberies discovered by means of the fossil
Infusoria adhering to the boots of the suspected persons, though the
latter had travelled many miles from the spot where the act was
committed.”

And again—

“In the lakes of Sweden there are vast layers of iron oxide almost
exclusively built up by animalcules. This kind of iron-stone is called
lake-ore, In winter the Swedish peasant, who has but little to do in
that season, makes holes in the ice of lake, and with a long pole brings up
mud, &c., until he comes upon an iron bank, A kind of sieve is then let
down to extract the ore. One man can raise in this manner about one
ton per diem.

“ Besides the excellent polishing material furnished by these infusorial
deposits, Liebig has recently drawn attention to another application of
which they are susceptible. His observations were made upon an infusorial
deposit which constitutes the under soil of the commons or plains of
Liinebourg, in Germany; and he has shown that these microscopic
remains, as well as those taken from several other localities, can be very
easily converted into silicate of potash or silicate of soda, sometimes
known as ‘ soluble glass.’”

The work concludes with a short account of sponges.

It will be seen, from the length of this notice, that we regard
Dr. Phipson’s work as one well deserving of attention, and
containing, if not novel, at any rate useful and interesting
information.

198

Conspectus Criticus, Diatomacearum Danicarum. By Dr.
Puiu, P. A. C. Herperc. Copenhagen, 1863.

Turis work, which is, unfortunately for its ready perusal,
written in the Danish language, professes to give a general
review of the Danish species of diatoms.

It commences with a general account of the natural history
and structure of these organisms, and with a definition of the
terms employed in their description, in which, so far as we
are able to make it out, there does not appear to be anything
new, though it contains a good deal of useful historical infor-
mation with respect to the species noticed by Otto Miiller,
Lyngbye, and other Danish writers.

The second part is systematic, and the following table will
serve to show the arrangement followed by the author in the
classification of Danish diatoms :

J. Valves equal (eensdannede).

A. “Front view ” symmetrical in the longitudinal axis.
(a) “ Side view ” circular.
Fam. 1. MrLosirnez, Grunow.

1. Melosira, Ag.

2. Lysigonium, Link.
3. Orthosira, Thwaites.
4. Paralia, n. gen.
(5.) Pyxidicula, Ehy.
(6.) Coscinodiscus, Ehy.
7. Actinocyclus, Ehr.
8. Eupodiscus, Ehr.

9. Auliscus, Ehr.

(b.) “Side view ” not circular.
a. “ Side view” symmetrical longitudinally.
Fam, 2, BippuLPruie#, Kutz.

Tribus 1. Biddulphiee genuine.

10. Cerataulus, Ehr.

11. Biddulphia, Gray.
12. Triceratium, Ehr.
13. Amphitetras, Ehy.

DR, HEIBERG, ON DANISH DIATOMACE, » 199

Tribus 2. Biddulphiee cuneate.
(Eucampia, Ehyr.)

Fam. 3. Hemiauuipa, n. fam.

Tribus 1. Hemiaulide genuine.
14. Hemiaulus, Ehr.
15. Trinacria, n. gen.
16. Solium, n. gen.

Tribus 2. Hemiaulide cuneate.
17. Corinna, n. gen.

Fam. 4. Fraciiariza, Kutz.

Tribus 1. Fragilariee genuine.

18. Plagiogramma, Greville.
19. Diatoma, Decand.

20. Fragilaria, Lyngb.
(21.) Synedra, Ehr.

Tribus 2. Fragilariee cuneate.

22. Meridion, Ag.
23. Asterionella, Hassall.

Fam. 5. SrRiATELLEX, Kutz.

Tribus 1. Striatellee genuine.
24. Rhabdonema, Kutz.
25. Tabellaria, Ehr.
26. Grammatophora, Khr.
27. Striatella, Ag.

Tribus 2. Striatellee cuneate.
28. Podosphenia, Ehr.

Fam. 6. NavicuLex, Kutz.

Tribus 1. Naviculee genuine.

29. Navicula, Borg.

30. Stauroneis, Ehr.

31. Pleurosigma, Sm.

32. Scoliopleura, Grun.
33. Amphiprora, Ebr.
34. Mastogloia, Thwaites.

200 .DR. HEIBERG, ON DANISH DIATOMACEZ.

Tribus 2. Naviculee cuneate.
35. Gomphonema, Ag.

36. Cocconeis, Ehr.
Fam. 7. SurizeELLex, Grun.

Tribus 1. Surirellee genuine.

37. Surirella, Turpin.
38. Campylodiscus, Ehr.

Tribus 2. Surirellee cuneate.
39. Novilla, n. gen.

B. “ Side view” unsymmetrical longitudinally.

Fam. 8. Errraemizz, Gran.
40. Epithemia, Bréb.
41. Himantidium, Ehr.
Fam. 9. CyMBELLE#, Pritch.

42. Cymbella, Ag.
43. Amphora, Ehr.

B. “ Front view ” unsymmetrical in the longitudinal
axis.

Fam. 10. Nirzscuizz, Grun.

44, Nitzschia, Hassall.
45. Tryblionella, Sm.
46. Amphipleura, Kutz.

II. Valves unequal (uensdannede).
Fam. 11. Acnantuex, Grun.

Tribus 1. Achnanthee genuine.

47. Achnanthes, Borg.
48. Achnanthidium, Kutz.

Tribus 2. Achnanthee cuneate.
49. Rheicosphenia, Grun.

201

An Elementary Text-Book of the Microscope, including a
description of the methods of Preparing and Mounting
Ojects, &c. By J. W. Grirrirs, M.D., F.L.S., &e.
London: Van Voorst.

Dr. Grirrirx is too well known to microscopists not to
ensure us that any work from his pen will be interest and
value, and in the present one he has certainly given a very
useful addition to his former labours.

Its object “is to furnish an elementary course of instruc-
tion in the use of the microscope, and in its application to
the examination of the structure of plants and animals.”
But, in addition to this, it also includes figures and descrip-
tions of the “ principal structures and more minute forms of
both the vegetable and the animal kingdom, which are com-
mon and readily procurable.”” <A chapter is also given upon
the optical principles of the microscope, and a sketch of the
subject of polarized light.

Intended, as it is, for beginners or novices in the use of
the microscope, the work, of course, contains much already
well known to those in the habit of making microscopic
observations, and does not enter very deeply into many points ;
but what it does contain is well and clearly expressed, and,
so far as we can perceive, all that is really likely to be of use
to the class for whom it is intended is given in it. The
numerous and beautiful coloured plates, which appear to be
most carefully and correctly executed, give the work a special
character, and we have no doubt that it will be found to
supply the place of numerous larger and more expensive
books to a large class of readers, and to all beginners who
may not have determined to devote themsclves to any
special subject of research, but may employ their instruments
in a discursive way through all the realms of nature.

We cannot give a better idea of the book than by going
over the chapter of contents. In the first chapter we
have an account of the structure of the microscope, with
details of the various forms of apparatus which are intended
to assist its use. In the second chapter the beginner
will find a good description of how he is to proceed in
the mounting of objects. This is a subject which deserves
more attention than it has yet received. The best possible
way of noting the progress of observation with the micro-
scope is to make preparations of the objects seen. This
is one great advantage of microscopic inquiries—that their

VOL. IV.— NEW SER. P

202 DR. GRIFFITH, ON THE MICROSCOPE.

results may be kept in museums of small size. All other
inquirers are obliged to arrange their specimens in extended
cases, but the microscopist can exhibit all his treasures in
a very small space.

Following the old systematic view, Dr. Griffith begins
with vegetable structures, and passes on to those of animals.
In his third chapter he speaks of vegetable tissues and
elements ; and if he were a professed botanist instead of a
microscopist, we might join issue with him in regard to the
result of his observations. From vegetable elements he passes
to vegetable organs. Here we find a very good account of the
various organs of plants. From the higher plants in the
fourth chapter, we pass, in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth
and ninth chapters, to an account of the various structures
found amongst ferns, mosses, algze, lichens and fungi. It is
impossible to criticise all the information here given. Dr.
Griffith has, with a respectful regard to the memory of his
distinguished colleague and co-editor in ‘The Micrographic
Dictionary,’ reproduced here in a more elementary form what
was recorded there, The late Professor Henfrey had studied
with more than ordinary diligence the structure of the
Cryptogamic forms of plants, and he has left in his researches
amongst these humble forms of the vegetable kingdom a per-
manent record of his love of natural objects and powers of
observation.

Passing down the vegetable scale of existence, we diverge
from plants into animals at the Fungi. Animal elements and
tissues follow the Fungi in a tenth chapter. It would be
invidious to criticise what is done so well; yet we cannot but
feel that in these elementary chapters Dr. Griffith has
opinions with which we do not wholly agree. At any rate, we
freely admit he may be as right as ourselves, and we commend
his observations to our friends who are beginning to stuay
minute structures. Starting from the great broad basis of
universal animal structure, we have, following, particular

accounts of animal families. We have no particular micro- ~

scopic account of the Mollusca; but why they have offended
Dr. Griffith we are at a loss to discern. We feel inclined at
once to supply a chapter on the microscopic interest of
Mollusca. The teeth of the Gastropoda, &c., the glands of the
Lamellibranchiata, and a host of other phenomena, occur to
us. But we must follow Dr. Griffith. Chapter XI is devoted
to Articulata. Chapter XII to Radiata; and as this tribe
has been given the go-by of late, we may as well say the
whole family is treated by Dr. Griffith with great contempt,
and dashed off in two pages. The Protozoa, being especially

DR. GRIFFITH, ON THE MICROSCOPE. 203

microscopic, are treated at length. Here we have an
account of that very heterogeneous and doubtful family, the
Infusoria. Of course in catering for juniors, Dr. Griffith does
not indulge in speculating as to the animal or vegetable
nature of these organisms. He gives descriptions of various
forms, which his plates display in all their proportions and
colours. Wisely reserved to the latter part of the book is a
chapter on “optical principles.”” We advise all readers to
skip this chapter if they please. A dinner is not the less
pleasant that you are ignorant of the structure and functions
of the nerves of teeth. The wonders of the microscope may
be enjoyed without a knowledge of “ optical principles.”
What we commend is the use of the microscope, and when
observation has gone to its furthest point, the desire for a
knowledge of the principles on which we have proceeded may
undoubtedly lead to yet further discoveries.

In conclusion, we would commend Dr. Griffith’s work to
our readers, believing they will find it all that is necessary
for the commencement of observations with the microscope.
Should they ever become masters of its details, we can rejoice
with them in the power they possess of diving deeper into the
great secrets which the Creator of All has yet to reveal to
those who diligently study and take delight in His works,

NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE.

Zoosperms in the Ovaria of Pulmoniferous Gastropods.—In
the April number of your Journal I find a communication
regarding tlie above subject, from one of your correspondents.
In this communication the writer impugns the accuracy of
my assertion, that the zoosperms are not secreted in the
ovary properly so called. It is stated that, because the
structures in question are to be seen in a fully developed
condition in the saccules of the ovary, the latter organ is
that which gives them birth. Now, without desiring to
dwell upon the fact that the petitio principii is hardly a fair
mode of reasoning, allow me to indicate to your corre-
spondent a few of the difficulties which his assumption
involves.

lst.—The zoosperms being found fully developed in the
ovary and imperfectly formed [spermatophora] in the sperm-
sac, they must, according to his hypothesis, have undergone
a species of retrograde development.

2nd.~-There being but one oviduct, the zoosperms must
pass out with the ova, and, therefore, be utterly valueless so
far as reciprocal fecundation is concerned.

3rd.—The testis [mihi] which is tout entier of greater
volume than the ovarium, would have but a subordinate
function attached to it.

4th.—It would be impossible to show how the zoosperms
pass into the spermatheca.— Henry Lawson, M.D., Professor
of Physiology im Queen’s College, Birmingham.

Stereoscopic Photographs of Diatoms,—At the recent soirée
of the Microscopic Society were exhibited a series of photo-
graphs; by Dr. Maddox, of various forms of Diatomacee, in
which the markings were defined with great distinctness, and
the peculiar appearances produced with differences of illumi-
nation were illustrated. ‘These attracted considerable notice.

MEMORANDA. 205

Some of the most interesting were taken in pairs, so as to be
shown in the stereoscope, the negatives of which were
obtained with a -,th of 172° of aperture.* As it is impos-
sible to see these objects stereoscopically with the full aperture,
by any form of binocular microscope, it may be stated that
the pair of negatives were impressed by two different ex-
posures, slightly shifting the objects sideways and altering
the focus for each time. In fact, it is difficult to obtain two
negatives, taken at different times, closely alike. With a
large-aperture objective, even a difference of illumination
will give a stereoscopic effect in the combined pictures.
Some of the diatoms photographed by Dr. Maddox, when
viewed in the stereoscope, appeared disk-shaped, or with the
surface of the valve curiously contorted, and the markings
standing in bold relief, like the seeds of a pomegranate.
Those who take an interest in the structure of the mark-
ings on the Diatomaceze may, perhaps, find that a careful
scrutiny of these photographs (which we believe are now in
the hands of Mr. How, Foster Lane, Cheapside) will materi-
ally assist in determining their character, or whether they are
in the form of projections or depressions.—F. H. Wenuam.

Notes on Raphides, by George Gulliver, Esq.— We have already
seen (‘ Annals’ for April and July, 1863), how well this order
is characterised by raphides, so that not only can a plant
belonging to it be henceforth truly distinguished from others
of nearly allied orders by these acicular crystals alone,
but a minute fragment of the leaf or its modifications may
be sufficient for the diagnosis; nay, that even a seed-leaf
would be so was proved in Gnothera and Epilobium.

This last fact appeared so remarkable that I have lately
made it the subject of experiments with other plants, when a
careful examination of numerous species showed that those
belonging to orders previously ascertained to be regularly
destitute, in the adult leaves, of raphides, are also equally
devoid of them in the seed-leaves. Then the seeds of such
Onagracee as were easily procurable (to wit, Circea lute-
liana, Eucharidium grandiflorum, Clarkia elegans, C. pul-
chella, and Godetia vinosa) were sown in pots; and as soon
as the seed-leaves were well developed above the soil, they
were all examined, and found in every instance to contain
raphides. These could be seen both scattered in bundles
throughout the parenchyma and floating freely and singly

* The th used was constructed by Mr. Wenham, and lent for the occasion.

“206 MEMORANDA.

in the water wherein the part had been broken by pressure
and friction between the glass object-plate and cover. The
raphides in the green cotyledons were somewhat smaller and
less plentiful than in the plumule and fully developed stem
and leaves.

The difference in question between Onagraceze and their
nearest allies of other orders is not only very curious, but is
one of those numerous phenomena which remind us of how
little we know of the recondite operations of vegetation.
Take, for example, two plants, as Kpilobium hirsutum and
Lythrum salicaria, similar in habit and growing closely
together in the same soil of the river-bank, and observe the
signal difference of their products—the one plant, as a
regular part of its healthy structure, abounding during its
whole existence in raphides, the other as regularly destitute
of them, and affording sphzeraphides instead, differing as
much in form as they probably do in chemical composition
from raphides. Supposing, then, as there is some reason to
‘do, these crystals respectively are phosphate and oxalate or
some other salt of lime, a leading and constant function
of the Onagracez would be the formation of the phosphate,
while the Lythracez would be a laboratory of a different
salt—the performance of each of these diverse operations
being a regular and special design of the plant-life in such
cases.

But though we know so little of this subject that its sig-
nificance remains a mystery to us, we may now make good
use of the facts already revealed as botanical characters, pro-
vided we distinguish truly, as proposed in the last number
of the ‘ Annals,’* raphides from sphzeraphides, so as not to
confound such different things under one and the same
term, taking care also to observe how far the spheraphid
tissue (of which an engraving} was given in the same number
of the ‘ Annals’) may be characteristic of certain orders. If
we confine the word raphides to the needle-like crystals
commonly occurring in bundles, it may be the expression of
a more universal diagnosis between such orders as Ona-

* Without some such definition as therein proposed be used, there will
be, as there has long been, great confusion. It is merely perplexing to say
that such a plant, or order of plants, affords raphides, unless it be defined
what is meant by this term. It should be confined, as I have lately confined
it, to the acicular forms occurring so commonly in bundles; and all the eon-
glomerate forms provisionally, should be called spheraphides. These last are
much more common and widely diffused than true raphides.—G, G,

+ The outlines of the crystals are often more or less rounded or granular,
not so sharp and distinct as there represented. In that number of the
“Annals,” p. 228, for Cucurbitacee, read Dioscoreacee.

MEMORANDA. 207

grace and their next allies, and yet less simple and sure,
than any single character hitherto employed. Thus, too,
we could determine the affinities and contrasts of certain
plants by a method at once easy, novel, and practical, and all
this in the absence of those parts heretofore exclusively used
for the descriptive distinctions. And there would be another
advantage in enlisting these crystals into the service of
systematic botany; for we should not be thus employing
merely an empirical formula, but methodically recognising
some really fundamental results of plant-life, well fitted to
keep before us such interesting and important phenomena in
the economy of vegetation as must be especially valuable in
a natural system of classification.— Annals of Nat. Hist., Oct.,
1863.

Onagracee.—This order, as shown in former papers, is so
well and truly characterised in this manner, that the raphides
even in the seed-leaves may be sufficient for the diagnosis;
and I know not that it had ever before been suspected that
this rudimental part of the plant of one order would thus be
adequate to distinguish it from the other plants of the nearest
allied orders.

Further, I have now to observe that the same difference
may be demonstrated in the ovule. In its sacs and in the
placenta the raphides abound, whilst they do not exist there
or elsewhere in plants of cognate orders. Though I have
made a few observations to this effect in other raphidiferous
plants, I have chiefly studied the facts in Onagracez, because
these are easily obtained, germinate freely, abound so much
in raphides, and stand in the natural system between orders
not thus producing raphides.

Thus, taking the order Onagracee as a typical raphidiferous
one, we have shown the presence regularly of raphides through
every part and period of growth of the vigorous plant, from
the ovule, cotyledons, axis, leaves and their modifications, to
the parts of fructification, and, finally, to the pulp of the
berry. In most, if not all, species of the order, the raphides
occur more or less in the anthers, filaments, style, and stigma,
and, less plentifully, in the petals.

Discoreacee.—The raphides are sometimes so very distinct
and beautiful in this order, that they would be excellent
examples for demonstration at lectures. By simply drying
on glass some of the juice of the berry of Tamus communis,
the raphides may be preserved for an indefinite time; and,
as they are about =1,th of an inch long and ;,'>,th ich
thick, they may be seen merely with the aid of a common

208 MEMORANDA.

hand lens. In the ripe berry the raphides generally occur
naked, either singly or in the characteristic bundles, destitute
of a cell-wall.

Aracee.—But the raphis-cells are so large and plain in the
berry of Arwn maculatum, and thus continue for a long while
in its ripe state, as to afford as good an example for the study
of the development, form, and relations of the raphis-cells as
the berry of the Tamus is for the examination of the separate
yaphides. And, in this point of view, these very common
berries are well worthy of the attention of teachers and pupils.
In the woodcut, fig. 3, it will be seen that some of the raphis-
cells of Arum are nearly ;!,th of an inch in length and +j,th
in breadth.

Asparagacee.—This is propably a true raphidiferous order ;
for, though I have not examined the exotic species, I have
found raphides in all the British plants (except Matanthemum,
which I have not seen). In Asparagus officinalis raphides
occur throughout the plant, and at all periods of its growth,
from the first leaf-bud to the ripe berry.—Annals of Nat.
Hist., Nov., 1863.

Orchidacee.—We have already seen raphides abounding
generally throughout these plants in the only four British
species examined. Hence it appeared interesting to extend
the inquiry to the exotic species, and especially to the
epiphytes of the order, which I have been enabled to do
through the courtesy of Dr. Hooker and Mr. J. De Carle
Sowerby. The following are notes of parts of fresh plants
received on January 26th and February 6th :— Jsochilus
linearis : raphides very scanty in leaves ‘and stem, but very
plentiful in bundles in the fleshy root, without starch ;
dotted chains of cells in stem. Sobralia macrantha: raphides
rather numerous in stem, leaves, and the parts of fructifica-
tion. Calanthe vestita: raphides abundant in scape, bracts,
petals, and other parts of fructification (no leaf examined) ;
hairs of scape jointless, and not glandular. Dendrobrium
nobile: raphides abundant iu very young leaves, less so in
old leaves and stem, and very rare in the root. D. pulchel-
lum: bundles of raphides in the stem and fleshy leaves, and
very rare in the root. Leaf of another Dendrobium : raphides
rather scanty, but large. Leaf of Aérides odorata: several
bundles of raphides, but not abounding.’ Bit of leaf of
Trichotosia (a section of Eria): bundles of large raphides
abundant in cells, and numberless smaller raphides in the
field of vision; hairs of leafred, smooth, jointless, swollen at
base, and not glandular. Schomburghia crispa: bundles of

MEMORANDA. 209

raphides abundant in swollen part of stem, scarcer in its thin
part and leaf; woody part of stem made up of dotted vessels.
Cattleya Mossie (leaf and swollen part of stem): raphides
abundant. Phaius grandifolius : bundles of raphides swarming
in the leaves, bulb, and root-fibres; in the bulb, raphis-cells
very large and hyaline, also a profusion of beautiful, conical,
large starch-granules, average length ~4;th, and breadth
=1, ofaninch. SBrassia (a bit of the leaf, as also in all the
following): raphides, but not very plentiful. Oncidium:
very few bundles of raphides. Megaclinium: raphides abun-
dant, and a beautiful subcuticular spheraphid tissue (‘ An-
nals,’ Sept., 1863, pl. iv., fig. 13) ; the diameter of each of
the sheraphides regularly about ;,',,thof an inch. Ansellia:
raphides rather numerous. Bolbophyllum: raphides pretty
numerous.

Aracee.—Among some fragments of plants to aid this
inquiry, which were obligingly supplied by Mr. Cox, the
excellent superintendent of the Redleaf Gardens, is part of
the leaf of Richardia ethiopica, which I find abounding in
biforines, the raphides escaping, under gentle pressure, regu-
larly from both ends of the oval cells—Annals Nat. Hist.,
March, 1864.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Microscorican Socrmry oF Lonpon,
March 30th, 1864.

Tur Annual Dress Soirée of the Society was held this evening
in the great Hall and adjacent rooms of King’s College. The
very fine weather, and especially as the soirée was not held as before
in Easter-week, enabled near 800 ladies and gentlemen to attend
this interesting and scientific meeting. The number of micro-
scopes exhibited was over 200, the chief of which were from the
various instrument makers, most of whom are now members of
the Society. The predominance of the binocular arrangement of
Mr. Wenham, the beauty of construction, and costly adaptations
of the several instruments, were subjects general admiration. ©
The following were among theexhibitors:— \

Mr. Baxer.— Twenty-four microscopes, fifteen of which were made
with his new binocular stand. These latter were arranged so as to
display in an effective manner the advantages of this construction.
All the objects were of a popular character, and among those
which attracted most attention should be mentioned—artistically
arranged groups of diatoms, opaque and transparent, the former
showing well by the soft light of the Lieberkuhn: spicules of
Synapta, consisting of seventy-four plates and anchors, similarly
arranged ; a fine specimen of the Myriapod, “ Millipede,”’ and its
exuvie ; a new polarizing crystal Aspartic acid; transparent injec-
tions of the toe and brain of the mouse ; head of large tiger beetle,
shown entire by the 3-inch objective. Among the living objects
were several specimens of the parasite (Argalus foliaceus) of the
stickle-back and other fresh-water fish. This forms an interesting
study under the binocular, the respiratory action, sucker, and
entire structure being well displayed.

Dr. Carpenter exhibited a new binocular microscope by
Nachet, in which the principle (introduced by Mr. Wenham) of
allowing one-half of the cone of rays to pass on without interrup-
tion ds applied in such a manner that, by a change in the position
of the prism, a conversion of relief is produced; a pseudoscopic
effect being substituted for the proper stereoscopic projectien.
Various objects were exhibited, showing this phenomenon in a

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 211

very remarkable manner ; thus the effect of the conversion upon
the eggs of a small Lepidopterous insect was to make them appear
as if laid open and seen from their interior face ; the same was the
ease with the spherical and bell-shaped polycystina, and with such
diatoms as Isthmia; whilst the convex and concave faces of Arach-
nodiscus were mutually interchanged. Dr. Carpenter also exhi-
bited a (true) half-inch objective, constructed for him by Messrs.
Powell and Lealand, specially adapted, by the limitation of its
angle of aperture to 40°, for use with the binocular. The focal
depth or penetration of this objective, combined with entire free-
dom from that exaggeration of relief which is necessarily produced
when objectives of an angle of aperture much exceeding 40° are
used with the binocular, were displayed in such a manner as to
satisfy the most critical judges, upon a beautiful slide of poly-
eystina prepared for Dr. Carpenter by Mr. Freestone.

Messrs. Crovucnu.—Fourteen microscopes, including several of
their “cheap binocular microscopes.” This instrument is of a
very superior construction, and optically as perfect as the most
complete and expensive, and fully bears out the testimony of Dr.
Carpenter and other eminent microscopists as to the great supe-
riority of this binocular as a “ cheap ” instrument.

Messrs. Govutp AND Porrur.—Lleven microscopes, including
their portable sea-side microscope, admired for its cheapness and
compactness ; it has coarse and fine adjustment mechanical rack-
stage, three sets of achromatic powers, best condenser on stand,
with sliding, centre motion for inclining it to any angle, and fits
into a case 52in. by 5} in., and 3in. deep.

Mr. J. How.—Ten microscopes. Among the objects exhi-
hibited by reflected light, were curculio of hazel, small intestine,
human, lung of boa constrictor, foraminifera, polyeystina; by
transmitted light, female gnat, head of crane fly, gizzard of
cricket, foraminifera, Mediterranean diatoms (assorted); by
polarized light, platino-cyanide of magnesium, salicine, and
chlorate of potash.

Mr. Lapp.—Seven microscopes of different construction. One
fine mounted specimen of the itch insect, one live specimen of the
Conochilus Volvox, two polarized objects, especially one of the
coral from the mountain lime-stone, forming a most brilliant
object. |

Messrs. Murray AND Heatu.—LZight microscopes. Among
others their new model, combining perfect steadiness with large
range of adjustment, ata small cost. The objects were Vorticella,
Ophiura, 4tea dilatata, 8. Australia, peristoma of Bryum, spiral
vessels of rhubarb, polycystina, diatomacex, guano, &c.

Messrs. Newron AND Co.—Twelve microscopes. The objects
were diatoms, polarizing objects, and injections; also a series
of large preparations 8 inches in diameter, for gas. Microscopes,
including scorpions, tarantulas, crabs, locusts, butterflies, &c.

Mr. Norman.—WNine microscopes. Some of the objects dis-
played were of great beauty, and a few worthy of particular

212 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

notice, such as the wheel-shaped spicula of Chirodota figured by
Dr. Carpenter in his work on the microscope; also a section of
agate, brought by Dr. Murie from the Nubian desert, consisting
of an aggregation of regular formed crystals, beautifully shown
by polarized light; likewise a mineral called sunstone, as an
opaque object rivalling in iridescence and colour the elytron of
the diamond beetle; also spicula of a synapta more than four
times the size of those generally met with.

Messrs. PowEtt and Lrananp.—Seven of their splendid first-
class instruments, and the following objects :— Circulation of the
valisneria (with their new z4th objective), Volvor globator, peri-
stoma of moss, gastric teeth of cricket, leaf insect, circulation in
young of trout, and tail of fish, &., &e.

Mr. Ross.—A magnificent display of twenty-four of his first-
class instruments. Although the objects presented no novelty,
the brilliant illumination and definition were very remarkable,
We particularly noticed a slide of “ Heliopelta,’ mounted as an
opaque object, shown in a binocular with the 3-inch of 90°, and
its Lieberkuhn.

Messrs. Smrru and Brecx.—Twenty-four microscopes; also
two instruments connected with the early history of the com-
pound achromatic microscope.

The one was a microscope stand, designed by Mr. Lister in
March, 1826. The work was executed by James Smith, under
Mr. Lister’s superintendence, and was finished in 1827. This
instrument is the basis from which has been built up all the
improvements in the achromatic microscope which have taken place
inthiscountry. The object-glass was worked by Mr. Lister’s own
hands in 1880, and its aperture was at that time larger than any
other glass made either before or for some time after.

The other was the first complete microscope made by James
Smith on his own account. It was ordered by the late Mr. R.
L. Beck, and delivered to him May 29th, 1839.

In connection with microscopic objects, the same firm also ex-
hibited the “life history’ of an acarus, identical in appearance
with the Acarus Crossii. The various stages from the egg to the
mature male and female were separately shown, in a living state,
by six instruments, accompanied with drawings at the side of each.
The construction of these microscope stands, intended for purposes
of demonstration, was entirely novel, and besides being of very
moderate cost, the arrangements entirely prevented any inter-
ference with the object—a precaution which so many find to be
necessary on such occasions.

In one of their ordinary best microscopes a Podura scale was
shown, under a 2,th. This particular specimen exhibited in a
striking manner the continuity of, the markings—a subject which
was still further illustrated by drawings of the scales from five
different species, magnified 1300 linear. Under some of their other
microscopes Smith, Beck, and Beck also showed some entirely
new and exceedingly fine carmine injections.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 218

_ The Socizry.— Five microscopes, including that splendid
“binocular,” with the objectives and other necessary apparatus,
lately presented to the Society by Mr. Thomas Ross, were in the
charge of Mr. Searson, the curator, who exhibited some fine
injections of the dorsal and palmar surfaces of the hand, villi, and
follicles of the intestine; sections of human scalp, with the hairs,
glands, and vessels in situ; also, under several powers, the action
of the cilia on the fibrille of the common mussel, the isolated
portions floating by means of the cilia across the field of the
microscope in a remarkable manner, as so many infusorial ani-
malcule.

Mr. WuiEELER.— Twenty-one microscopes, and an elaborate dis-
play of objects, with some light well-made cases for the con-
venience of carrying a quantity of objects with safety. These
comprised some respectable instruments at a very low cost, with
others of higher pretensions ; and his first-class binocular, with
his improved achromatic objectives, made expressly for binocular
use, a new goniometer stage, and the modern appliances for
special illumination. The objects were elegantly displayed, em-
bracing an extensive series in almost every branch of microscopy ;
the most enviable, perhaps, being his grouped and symmetrical
selections of diatoms, both opaque and transparent; whole in-
sects, orchidaceous and other vegetable structures, and anatomical
preparations.

There was an interesting exhibition of early microscopes, the
property of the Society, of Mr. Roper, and of the Assistant Secre-
tary, Mr. Williams. ‘Those belonging to the Society were the
Martin microscope, of which there is a description in No. VI,
new series, of the Journal. An early specimen of the compound
microscope known as Culpepper’s, and a silver mounted speci-
men of Wilson’s pocket microscope. These were from the
Quekett collection. Those of Mr. Roper were Lyonet’s anato-
mical microscope, and one of Martin’s early compound hand
microscopes. Mr. Williams exhibited a lucernal microscope in
operation. The double constructed microscope, two specimens of
Wilson’s pocket microscope, Withering’s botanical microscope,
two specimens of microscopes for opaque objects, a solar mi-
croscope, and a very minute microscope contained in a case
the size of a small acorn.

The following gentlemen also exhibited microscopes with well
selected and interesting objects:—Messrs. Pillischer,ten; Highley,
six, with beautiful photographs of diatoms for the magic lanthorn ;
Mummery, two; Gray, one; J. Smith, one; Morley, one ; Horne
and Thornthwaite, three, and two polariscopes; and Topping, two.

Around the walls of the great hall were displayed a large
series of elaborate and instructive diagrams, kindly contributed
by Dr. Carpenter, Dr. Beale, Mr. Mummery, and a very interest-
ing series of the “anemone” executed by Mr. T. Suffolk, a
member of the Society, were greatly admired. The generality of
the objects far surpassed all former attempts, especially the

214 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

diatoms, the clearness of mounting, and the geometrical arrange-
ment of the several groups on the slides, showed a great advancé
in the preparation of these beautiful, instructive, and elaborative
structures. .

The whole of the proceedings passed off with the greatest éclat,
and thus ended one of the most successful soirées of this Society,
mainly due to the untiring exertions of Mr Blenkins, Mr. Roper,
Mr. Lobb, and the other members of the soirée committee.

April 13th, 1864.
Cuirtes Brooxs, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

Blandford Nugintour, Esq., 23, Ely Place, Holborn, was balloted
for, and duly elected a member of the Society.

A paper by Dr. Vogel was read on Trichina spiralis, illustrated
by four slides of specimens.

A letter was read from W. H. Hull, Esq., requesting informa-
tion on the scab of sheep, now prevalent in Australia.

May 11th, 1864.
CuarLes Brooxe, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

Edmund Wheeler, Esq., Holloway, Benjamin Fox Watkins,
Esq., Fern House, Conholt Place, Brighton, Rev. R. H. N.
Brown, 12, Oakley Square, Alfred Lapone, Esq., Denmark Hill,
and William Wright, Esq., 12, College Terrace, St. John’s Wood,
were balloted for, and duly elected members of the Society.

A short paper by W. Hendry, Esq., on Glass Crystals, was
read.

A paper by Dr. Greville, on Diatomacex, was read.

Mr. Beck made some remarks on certain peculiarities in spiders.

June 8th, 1864.
CHarLes Brooks, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

Joseph Spawforth, Esq., Sandall Cottage, Hornsey Rise, George
H. Fryer, Esq., 70, Portsdown Road, Maida Vale, were balloted
for, and duly elected members of the Society.

The following papers were read:

“On Vuucayite Cetus,” by W. H. Hatr, Esq.

Believing that vuleanite would make good cells for mounting’
microscopic objects, Messrs. Silva and Co. kindly supplied me
with some tubing of this material. I had some doubt as to the
action of glycerine upon it, but this has been removed, for after
soaking a thin piece in pure glycerine for the last two months,

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES, 215

I cannot perceive the slightest alteration in it: the ring experi-
mented upon is on the table. The cells which I now exhibit
were cut with a lathe and an ordinary chisel, of a thickness of a
little more than the microscopic thin glass and upwards, and
cemented by heat with marine glue to the glass slide. It
will be perceived that the thinnest has not altered its shape in
the slightest degree.

Mr. Bailey, of No. 162, Fenchurch Street, City, has undertaken
to supply these rings from 6d. to 8d. per dozen, according to size
and thickness.

In examining a slide of Polycystina a few days ago with oblique
light thrown by the mirror, my attention was attracted by seeing
the black ground more intense and the object better brought out
while my hand was employed in moving the reflector ; I found this
to proceed from the shadow—the hand cast across the plane of
the object-glass. This suggested placing a piece of dead black
_ paper on the table beneath the objective, or still better, at the
bottom of a pill-box mounted on the stem carrying the mirror,
which gave an increased improvement in the back ground. I
subsequently substituted for the sombre colour papers stained
with green, blue, yellow, red, pink, orange, &c., with a pleasing
and I think instructive effect—very grateful to the eye, especially
so in respect to the greens and the blues. I propose to try if the
spot lens can be used with a like result; in the mean time, if not
already observed and recorded, it may be interesting to your
readers.

Lun’s Carp-Bosarpd CELLs for MOUNTING DRY OBJECTS.

Mr. Henry Lex introduces to the Society specimens of cells
cut from tudes of card-board, which being cheap to purchase,
ls. per gross, and easily made, will be found very useful in the
mounting of dry and opaque objects. As these are now much in
favour for the binocular microscope, it is hoped that cheap cells
adapted to them will prove acceptable to both amateur and pro-
fessional mounters. ‘They are made in the same manner as the
sides of pill-boxes, by rollmg gummed paper on a wooden mandril,
and cutting rings from the tube thus formed when dry and
hard. It will be seen that they can readily be made of any re-
quired depth, diameter, or thickness. :

“On the use of black and coloured paper as a background for
objects,” by Mr. Hall.

‘*On anew Achromatic Condenser,” by Mr. J. Webster.

“ On the structure and formation of the Sarcolemma of Striped
Muscle, and of the exact relation of the nerves, vessels, and air-
tubes in the case of Insects to the contractile Tissue of Muscle,”
by Dr. Lionel S. Beale.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

PRESENTATIONS TO THE MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.

January 13th, 1864.

Canadian Journal, No. 48 ‘ ;

Intellectual Observer, No. 24 x ;

Journal of Photography, No. 205

Photographic Journal, No. 140

Astronomical Register, 1864

Historia e memorias da Academia réal das sciencias de
Lisboa, 1863 3

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 3

30 Slides of Diatoms (America).

12 Slides of Alge :

6 Slides of Coal

February 10th.

Quarterly Journal of Science, No. 1 : é

Intellectual Observer, No. 25 ; ‘

Quarterly Geological ‘Journal, No. 77 “

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 74

On Cephalization, and on Megasthenes and Microsthenes
in Classification, by J. D. Dana .

Photograph of Leaf Insect ;

April 13th.

On the Structure and Formation of the so-called Apolar,

Unipolar, and Bipolar Nerve-cells of the Frog. By
Dr. Lionel S. Beale . .
Observations on the Genus Unio By. Dr. Isaac Lee

Archiv des Vereins fiir
Leipzig.

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila-
delphia, Nos. 3 to 7, 1863

Transactions of the Linnean Society, vol. xxiv, part 2

Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, No. 28

List of Linnean Society, "1863 ; : :

Intellectual Observer, Nos. 26 and 27

Journal of Photography, Nos. 208 to 211

Photographic Journal, Nos. 141 and 142

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 3 Nos. ps 5 and i6

Four Slides of Zrichina spiralis

wissenschaftliche Heilkunde,

May 11th.

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, No. 78
Canadian Journal of Industry, Science, and Art, No. 50.
Intellectual Observer, No. 28 z
Photographic Journal, No. 142 ‘

Journal of Photography, Nos. 212, 213

Presented by
The Editor.
Ditto.

Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.

Academie.
Purchased.
Prof. Jones.
Mr. Goddard.
Mr, Tupholme.

The Editor.
Ditto.

The Society.
Purchased.

The Author.

Mr. I, Ross:

The Author.
Ditto.

Dr. Vogel.

The Society.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.

The Editor.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Purchased.
Dr. Vogel.

The Society.
Ditto.

The Editor.
Ditto.

Ditto.

. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 77

Presented by
Purchased.

Fifty Slides of various ve with the List of the Names

thereof

June 8th.

H. Black. Esq.

Blackwall’s Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland, Part II,

Ray Society, 1864

Intellectual Observer, No. 29

Journal of Photography, Nos. 214 and 215

Photographic Journal, Nos. 144 and 145 :

kaiserlichkéniglichen Zooligisch-
botanischen-Gesellschaft in Wien, 1863

Monographie der oestriden von Friedrich Brauer

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 78

Verhandlungen der

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO THE QUEKETT MEDAL FUND.

£
feland. ea? M.D., LL.D.

Aled c - iG.
Ansell, Dr. T.,
Appold, #2.G,
Archer, W.
Baker, C.
Beale, Dr. L. 8., ERS.
Beck, J.
Beck, R.
Bennett, J. Li.
Bennett, —
Bezant, W. F.
Blanshard, H.
Blenkins, G. E.
Bossey, Dr. F. F
Bowerbank, Dr. J.S., F.R. S.
Boyle, W. A.
Brady, A. .
Brand, T. .
Brooke, C.,
FRS. .
Brown, Fredk.
Brown, Rev. T. H.
Bunting, J.
Burr, T. W., F.R. AS
Cappelain, J.C. Le
Carpenter, Dr. W. B., F.R. S.
Ceeley, Robt.
Ceely, Hy.
Giisice ain, Thos.
VOL. IV.—NEW SER.

F.LS.
F.RS.

President,

oe om . . i or eg Pe ‘ ante CPR inch oC
RR ee SS Tene er kG ee pe

~
.

POR RP RPOCOFrNM CON O OM] OH SH OH HHO OHHH

Churchill, J.

Dallmeyer, J. H. .
Dayman, C. O., F.R.A.S.
Deane, Hy., F. Sn
De la Rue, Warren, ERS.
Delferrier, W.

Dell, Thos.

Dyster, Dr. ¥F. D., ELS.
Edwards, Miss

Farrants, R. J.

Fitzgerald, A.

Glaisher, He F.R.S.
Gratton, J oseph

Gray, P.

Grey, Dr. .

Hennell, Col.

Hilton, Jas. ;
Hislop, W., F.R.G:S.
Hodgson, R, F.R.

Hogg, J. abez, F.L.
Ince, W. H., F.L.
Jeula, H.

Jones, P., F. L.5.
Ladd, Ww. .
Lankester, Dr. E., FERS.
Lee, Dr. Ni F.R. 8.
Leonard, Thos! ‘
Lister, Dr. F.G.S. .
Lister, J. J., F.R.S.
Lobb, E. G. a
Loddiges, Conrad .

The Society.
The Editor.
Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto.
The Author.
Purchased.

W. G. Srarson, Curator.

£

ee ee

ra]
BER meOrMNDRr HOME NOOMFMOHOCOFPOHOHOHFOHOHH.s

A.S.
S.
8.

Be te So Be

217

ecoooooooeoeooscosemooooscoooo So OOOO COCO®

218 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

£os : '
Lutwidge, R. W. S. Smith, Jas. 1
Microscopical Society 10 1 Smith, Joseph 4
Millar, Dr. J., F.L.S. Stephenson, ‘if W., F.R.A. S.01
Mummery, J. me Taylor, Jas. 1
Murchison, Sir R. J., F.R. S. Tennant, Jas., F.G. S.
Murray, Jas. Tomkins, ae eee

Townley, Jas.

Truman, Edwin

Tulk, J. A.

Tyler, Chas., F.L. S.
Vinen, Dr. Hart, F.L.S.

Newton, E.

Noble, J. .

Perigal, H., Jun., F. RAS.
Peters, W., ER. ed S.
Pidgeon, D. :

— a

Pitchford, E.B. . Waid, J. W. ; ,
Powell and Lealand Wakefield § Microscopical
Rawson, — Societ

Wallich, Dr. C., F.L.S.
Ward, N. 5. FRS.

—

Reade, George :
Reade, Rev. J. B., F.R.S.

Rideout, W. Waterhouse, J spill ENE

Roberts, J. H. Wenham, F.H. .

Roper, F.C. S., F. LS. West, Tuffen, F.L.S.

Ross, Thos. ; Westley, W.

Ryland, F. G. Westwood, W. H. . 1
Sale of Books , 1 Whitbread, Saml. C. F.R. S.
Salter, Dr. Hyde, F.L.S. White, H. EL. ;

Sequard, Dr. Brown- Wige, 8. S.

Shadbolt, George Williams, J.

piaes uk Lee ice eats Maes noice to i SUR we

SH ORPWOUMNONOCOOHOOWHEUDHAWNWOW:
SSSCORMSSOSSOCOOCOCOCOaAMmMoOODSDOCOOOCOSOO®S
DH HHMWOMHHMOHEHE DO a2 eS eee ee
SOM RF OONHHOMHD OFF DERFOHOOHOS
SOSCSCCOSCOCOCOCOCeOSO COCO OCOCOMOCOoOS®

I

Slack, H. af Woodward, Chas., F. RS.

MancueEsterR LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

MICROSCOPICAL SECTION.

Extract from Procerpinas of the MicroscopicaL SECTION of
the LiteRaRry and Puitosopuican Soctrry, 19¢h October.

A letter dated 15th May, 1863, was read from Captain J.
Mitchell, of Madras, addressed to the President, presenting copies
of Report published by the Madras Government, and stating that
the almost universal opinion, that the cotton fibre is of a flattened
form consisting almost entirely of membrane, is one founded on
error as far as the general form of well-nourished cotton fibre is
concerned.

Captain Mitchell further stated that an examination of many
varieties of cotton had led him to believe that in those cottons
which find most favour in the English market there is a very large
proportion of hairs that are entirely or nearly filled with second
deposits, and on the contrary in the low-priced cottons, the flat
fibre consisting of hardly anything but membrane, in fact, an
apparently undernourished cell predominates, the knotty por-

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 219

tion considered as refuse consisting almost entirely of those flat
fibres, the absence of secondary deposits being an indication of
careless culture, or, what is much the same thing, of a poor soil.

Mr. J. G. Dale in a note to the paper on carmine injection
stated that, as a blue injection, that of Turnbull’s leaves nothin
to be desired. He could not find the formula for it published,
and therefore appended a copy, as follows :—

10 grains sulphate of iron,
2 oz. water;
Dissolve cold: then take—
32 grains ferrocyanide of potassium,
2 oz. water ;
Dissolve cold: mix the two together and shake well for some time,
then add—
1 oz. glycerine,
Ij drachm pyroacetic spirit,
] oz. alcohol.

The following is the Report referred to at the above Meeting.

Revenve DepargrMeEnt.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE Mapras GoverNMENT.

Read the following letter :—

From Captain J. Mironent, Officer in charge of the Govern-
ment Central Museum, to J. W. Brerxs, Esq., Private
Secretary to His Excellency the Governor, dated Madras,
21st April, 1862.

My peak Sir,

1. On the 4th instant I had the honour to acknowledge the
receipt of certain samples of cotton that were forwarded with your
letter of the 3rd April, 1862.

2. The examination of these samples has occupied all the time
I could command since that date, and it is now my duty to report
the result. I fear His Excellency Sir W. Denison will consider
it a very inadequate return for the time devoted to it. It cer-
tainly appears so to me.

3. I have considered it advisable to send im full all the mea-
surements that I have made of the diameter of the fibre, because
it seems to me that a mere average is calculated to give a very
erroneous idea of cotton as it really is. With the whole of the
measurements before him His Excellency will be able to see the

ta on which the averages are founded.

4. The measurements were made with a cobweb micrometer,
the divisions of which (with the object glass used) have a value
of +35!s3y of an inch; this quantity, 133,833, therefore, is the
common denominator of fractions, of which the micrometer read-

220 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

ings entered in the several columns of the table are the nume-
rators.

5. As it would have been obviously unsatisfactory to select any
particular kind of fibres for measurement, the‘plan I adopted was
to tease out a pinch of the cotton until it lay pretty smooth ; from
this I detached as thin a stratum as possible of about half an inch
in width, which was placed on the compressorium in water. Then,
commencing at one end, I passed the different parts in succession
across the field of the microscope, and measured those that lay
flattest and best situated for that purpose, without reference to
their size or form. I did not at first note in the table the form
of the fibres, but after a time it occurred to me to do so, as it is
evident that the diameter of a flat thin fibre will, as a rule, be
greater than a cylindrical one; indeed, it follows as a matter of
course that if one portion of a hollow cylinder be pressed flat, it
must measure half as much more than the cylindrical portion,
z. €., in the ratio of the semi-circumference to the diameter.

6. You will observe that I have used the terms round, roundish,
flat, and flattish, in the table. J apply the term “round” toa
fibre that is apparently round and solid, with considerable opacity,
somewhat like a stout hair; but I do not mean to assert that
such are in reality solid cylinders, they are possibly flattish fibres
rolled up in such a way as to appear solid, and I reserve that
point for further examination.

7. Those termed “roundish” have a light line along their axis
when seen at the upper focus, an effect often seen with hairs, and
which led to the idea of hairs being tubular.

8. The “ flattish’’ fibres have this line wider, and, a more or
less, broad, opaque margin, which is rounded off so as to give the
idea that a transverse section would be an ellipse of greater or
less eccentricity.

9. The “flat thin” fibres are exceedingly thin, flattened tubes,
like pieces of ribbon, and without any appearance of internal
thickening from secondary deposits.

10. You will see by the following quotations that the use of
some terms to describe the nature of the fibre was a necessity.
Whether there be any kind of cotton in which a riband-like band
is the common form I have yet to learn, but in the samples that
I have examined, a flat riband-like fibre is mo¢ the rule, and in
some varieties it is almost a rare exception ;—to proceed.

11. The late Professor John Quekett in the 1st volume of his
Lectures on Histology, speaking of cotton fibres, says they “are
recognised as flattened and more or less twisted bands,” and his
figure represents, as well as a wood engraving can be expected to
do, what I call “thin flat fibres.” The writer of the article
“Cotton” in the English Cyclopedia (a.p. 1854), says, “ They
(z. e. the fibres) are long, weak tubes, which, when immersed in
water and examined under the microscope by transmitted light,
look like flat, narrow, transparent ribands, all entirely distinct
from each other and with a perfectly even surface and uniform

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 221

breadth. Professor Henfrey, ‘Micrographical Dictionary,’ is
nearly as bad; he says, “‘ From the absence of the regular thick-
ening layers the cells of the cotton hairs become collapsed when
dry, appearing like a'thin band with thickened borders.”

12. I have said that I have not found the above descriptions to
apply otherwise than exceptionally, but I should mention here,
that in some of the samples small knots remained after the cotton
was teased out with the fingers, and that I examined several of
these knots and found them composed (almost entirely) of very
thin, weak, ftat fibres, much entangled.

13. Although it seems probable that the quality of cloth pro-
duced and the facility of working must depend materially upon the
JSorm of the fibre, yet great stress is laid upon its length. It is
therefore with much regret that I am obliged to say I have not
been able to devise any easy and practical method of measuring
single fibres. The exceeding tenuity of the fibre, say as a mean
zaocth of an inch in diameter, renders it impossible to apply it
to an ordinary scale, and the only method I can see is to cement
them to a glass slide, which can then be applied to a scale ruled
on glass for the purpose. This is exceedingly tedious and very
trying to both eyes and head from the impossibility of seeing the
fibres without a lens; I therefore abandoned it for the method
adopted (I believe) by the broker and manufacturer, of repeatedly
drawing a small portion through the fingers until it appears to be
nearly all in a line, and then measuring these small tufts.

14. It is necessary also to observe that there is no equality of
form or diameter in the individual fibres, which are in one part
round, in another flattish and twisted, appearing varicose; spread-
ing out into a flat, thin fibre for some distance, to become again
contracted, &c. This variation of form seems to render anything
like a standard of measurement next to impossible.

15. I have sent herewith the small tufts of cotton from which
the lengths entered in the table were obtained. His Excellency’s
proposition to draw lines on paper exhibiting the average length
of the several staples is, I think, a very good one. I would, how-
ever, suggest that a broad black line on white paper, while quite
as well seen as a white line on black paper, would be more readily
executed, the latter method, I fear, would require wooden blocks
engraved for the purpose. It should be accompanied by a short
description of the way in which a small tuft is to be prepared for
measurement. The photo-lithograph sent by the Cotton Supply
Association is not very plain, and unaccompanied by any expla-
nation it seems likely to be misunderstood; for a friend of mine
who has taken some interest in cotton cultivation told me he
thought it was intended to represent seeds with the adhering
fibres simply stretched out. If an educated man could fall into
this error, it would not be strange if the native cultivator should
find it hard to understand.

16. I will not detain this report longer, but will endeavour to

222 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

prepare a memorandum on the subject of measurement, to be for-
warded hereafter.

P.S.—1. In a note dated 22nd instant, with which I was
favoured, His Excellency Sir W. Denison svas good enough to
suggest the possibility of obtaining a better knowledge of the
structure of cotton fibres by means of transverse sections.

2. The subject is a very difficult one, as the sections require to
be so exceedingly thin, less than one-thousandth of an inch. I
am not, therefore, surprised that I did not succeed. But my
failure to obtain transverse sections, properly so called, led me to
cut as obliquely as possible through the fibres, and this method
has revealed all I wanted to know, for the sloping extremities of
the fibres thus obtained show beyond a doubt that in all, except
the very thinnest, there is a greater or less amount of secondary
deposit, which in the round, roundish, and flattish ones is carried
to such an extent as to form (?) homogeneous solid body, instead
of a hollow cell or tube, but in the flattish fibres the deposit
appears thickest at the margins. The same result was subse-
quently arrived at by examining the cut extremities of other
portions with a half-inch object glass and Lieberkuhus’ reflector.
This method of examination not only confirmed the results of the
other, but exhibited also the very irregular form of the transverse
section.

3. I have also examined the fibres by polarised lhght, upon
which I find the thin flat fibres have little or no action, being
nearly, sometimes altogether, invisible when the axes of the
Nicol’s prisms are crossed. But they become visible when a film
of selenite is interposed between them and the polarising prism.

25th April, 1862.

Form and Character of the fibre in the several samples.

Pro-
gressive
numbers,

No. 1/The majority of the fibres flattish with thickened walls, a
few flat and very thin, still fewer round and solid looking.

» 2 The flat thin fibres and those with thickened walls in about

| equal proportions, a few round solid looking.

,, 3 Fibres chiefly flattish with thickened walls, some round and
roundish solid looking; but very few of the very thin
kind.

Many flat and very thin fibres: others flattish with the

| walls but moderately thickened, a few round solid look-
ing ones.

» 5 The thin flat fibres present in considerable number, fibres

| generally but little thickened and having a delicate ap-
pearance.

” 4

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 223

£ 22| Form and Character of the fibre in the several samples.
tbe

» 6\Much like No. 5. The thickness of the wall of a fibre that
measured 775_ Wa8 73,t-q,th of an inch.

» 17|The flat thin fibres were the predominating character of
this sample.

» 8|Some flat thin fibres, but not in great numbers, the roundish
and flattish predominating.

» 9|The flat thin fibres formed about (?) 4rd; the remainder
chiefly flattish with thickened walls.

,, 10/Thin flat fibres in considerable numbers, perhaps one half.

,», 11\Consists chiefly of flattish and roundish fibres, the very thin
flat ones being proportionately few.

», 12\Fibres roundish and flattish with thick walls; very few of
the thin flat kind.

,» 18\A few thin flat fibres: some of the fibres have a ragged or
torn appearance.

,», 14\Chiefly round, roundish and flattish fibres with thick walls ;
but few of the thin flat kind.

,, 15|Flat fibres present, but not in great number ; chiefly flattish
hairs with thick walls.

,», 16|/Flat fibres in moderate quntity; the remainder roundish
and flattish fibres with thickened walls, but somewhat
uneven.

,», 17|Like No. 16. This is marked ‘‘saw-ginned.” I have not
seen any indications of the injury said to be done by the
saw-gin to Indian cottons, the fibre is as sound as any I
have looked at.

,, 18\Consists of roundish, flattish, and round fibres; the broad,
thin, and flat kind being very rare. This seems a very
even cotton.

(Signed) J. Miron, Captain.

OrDER THEREON, 5th May, 1862, No. 977.

1. Resolved that Captain Mitchell’s report of his microscopical
examination of various specimens of cotton be printed and ciren-
lated. The samples numbered 10 to 18 were received from the
Manchester Cotton Association.

2. Captain Mitchell is requested to prepare the drawings and
descriptions referred to in paragraph 15,

(True Extract.)

(Signed) J. D, Sm,
Secretary to Government.
To the Officer in charge of the Central Museum.
Exd. T. MeMootry.

224: PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

REVENUE DEPARTMENT.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE Mapras GOVERNMENT.

Read the letter from Captain J. Mrronet, Officer in charge of
the Government Central Museum, to J. W. Brerxs, Hsq.,
Private Secretary to His Excellency the Governor, dated
Madras, 29th April, 1862 :-—

My brag Sig,

With reference to the 16th paragraph of my letter of the 21st
April, 1862, to your address, 1 have now the honour to forward a
table exhibiting the prices of the various samples of cotton sent
out by the Cotton Supply Association, opposite to which are black
lines to show the average length of staple, which lengths are also
given in inches and decimal parts. To this I have added a short
memorandum to show why the table has been prepared, and con-
taining a few remarks haying reference to some points to which it
appears desirable to attract attention

‘Will you do me the favour to ascertain whether this paper will
meet the wishes of his Excelleney the Governor, as conveyed to
me in paragraph seven of your letter of the 3rd April, 1862.

The white lines on this paper are intended to show, without
having recourse to a scale, the average length of fibre in the
several samples of cotton sent by the Cotton Supply Association,
being those in the greatest demand in the English market.

The plan of measurement adopted was to tease out repeatedly
a small quantity of cotton until a tuft was obtained with both
extremities of the fibres as nearly as possible in line. It was then
tied round the middle with a thread, and applied to a one-inch
diagonal scale.

But as, notwithstanding every care, there will remain a few
fibres which project beyond the others, it is proper to note that
the lines represent the length of the principal body of the tuft, and
not that of these few extreme fibres.

There is a perceptible difference both to seght and touch in dif-
ferent cottons; some are very soft and silky-looking, others feel
somewhat crisp and look less brilliant. But it is probable that
considerable experience is requisite before cotton can be judged
of in this way ; therefore no attempt has been made to lay down
rules on that subject here. It must, however, be observed that in
cottons of Indian growth the microscope shows a greater propor-
tion of thin flat fibres than is found in the American grown cottons,
and it is possible that much of the beautiful glossy appearance of
the better class of long cloths and cambrics depends upon the
comparative absence of these thin flat fibres from the cotton of
which they are made; and it may be a question for scientific
agriculturists whether any alteration of the time of sowing or by
some other means of which they will be the best judges, more

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 225

time cannot be obtained for the accumulation of secondary deposits
in the hairs of cotton seeds. Its absence, and perhaps the short-
ness of the fibre also, may be due to the too rapid ripening of the
pods, or is it owing to the poverty of the soil ?

Some cottons present a considerable number of “specks,” or
“ knots ;” these are found to consist of fibres in which the secondary
deposit is absent, that is, of the thin flat fibres, consisting of the
cell-wall only.

The points to which the cotton spinner attaches the greatest
importance is “LENGTH OF FIBRE” and “ABSENCE OF FO-
REIGN MATTERS,” or in plain words “pirt;’ wniformity of
length also is of course assumed; a reference to the prices also
will show that they are in proportion to the length of staple.
Thus on the 18th December, 1861, SeaIsland cotton, which mea-
sured about one inch and two thirds, was worth 21d.,say 14 annas
per lb., while saw-ginned Surat, which measured one inch and
one fifth, say half an inch less, brought only 7}d., or a trifle more
than one third of the price of the former,

The point therefore to which the attention of the grower should
be directed is, by improved cultivation to increase the length of
staple, for we see that when the staple was one half longer, the
price was three times greater or increased from a trifle under five
annas, to fourteen annas per lb. It is true the fibre was also
better in other ways, but it is likely that more careful cultivation
would improve the cotton in every way.

The cotton (No. 1) placed at the head of the list is that in
greatest demand, and it will be seen thatits length does not much
exceed the Broach cotton. Knowing what careful agriculture has
effected in Europe, Europeans have a right to expect that the
same cause should produce the same effect in India, and in addi-
tion to one-half or 50 per cent. to the price should be an induce-
ment sufficient to the cotton grower to endeavour to effect such
an improvement as would give India that command of the cotton
market which is now held by America.

10

13

14.

15

17

16

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Length and Price on the 18th December, 1861, of the following Samples
of Cotton.

Description.

Price per lb,

|American Medium
AS OULON |. o.ccten

Sea Island Cotton

Sea Island Cotton,
stained” 3: s.;

‘Egyptian Cotton .

{Pernambuco Cot-

tom: sil a

‘Middling Orleans
Cotton .........

Saw-ginned Surat.

12d. or 8 Annas* ,

21d. ,, 14

19d... 5158

>

» 8 Pie.)

» 8

310

”

Length. Inches.

1:33 to
1°25

* On the 20th November, 1861, for this sample only.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 227

ORDER THEREON, 10th June, 1862. No. 1276.

1. The Government are much obliged to Captain Mitchell for
tne Table, &e., submitted with this letter.

2. As the Table cannot be of much use, the Government direct
that copies of it and of the Memorandum annexed, as also of the
papers recorded in the Order of 5th May, 1862, No. 977, be fur-
nished to the Board of Revenue for distribution to the several
Collectors of this Presidency, and to such other persons as are
interested in cotton cultivation.

(True Extract)
(Signed) J. D. Sim,

Secretary to Government.

To Captain J. Mitchell.
To the Board of Revenue.
Exd, 8. T. Augustin.

Ordinary Meeting, March 22nd, 1864.
E. W. Bryvey, F.R.S., F.G.S., President, in the Chair.

Mr. Hurst communicated the following letter from Capt. John
Mitchell, Superintendent of the Madras Museum :—

Madras, 13th January, 1864.
To H. A. Hurst, Esq., 61, George Street, Manchester.

Dear Srr,—I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of the 10th November, 1863.

There are very few microscopists here, and as I do not know
any person who is likely to undertake the examination of cotton
fibre in the various stages of its growth, I have resolved to do so
myself, in the belief that the subject is one of sufficient importance
to justify me in devoting one day in the week to the inquiry so
long as may be found necessary.

I have accordingly made arrangements with Dr. Hunter,
Honorary Secretary of the Madras Agrihorticultural Society
(who at once promised me every assistance), to receive weekly on
Saturday a few pods from the Society’s grounds, where cotton of
all kinds is growing.

I have already given four days to this inquiry, and although it
is still in its infancy, I have obtained some interesting results,
which I will at once briefly communicate.

I began the examination, with pods that were supposed to have
been just formed. In this, the earliest stage, I found the cotton
hairs just becoming visible upon the surface of the seed as minute,
transparent hemispheres containing a few motionless granules—

928 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

I should perhaps say translucent, for the cotton hairs do not seem
ever to be transparent.

In a more advanced stage the seeds were covered with hairs
which contained numerous minute granules floating in a very
fluid and colourless mucus. An active rotation of the cell con-
tents, exactly like that in Nitella, was seen in all the hairs that
had not been injured by pressure, and continued for a considerable
time, at least half an hour. I found it could be seen with Ross’s
half-inch and the higher eyepieces, but I used chiefly a =4;th.

In a pod apparently somewhat older the appearances only
differed by the cell contents, which I have called colourless mucus
above, becoming thickened, and the granules somewhat smaller,
so that we had a fine granular mucus of a pale buff colour.

As the pod becomes older the cell contents appear to increase
in density and rotation to cease; at least I have not seen rotation
unless in the hairs of young seeds, z.e., seeds from young pods of
perhaps from two or three to ten or twelve days’ growth. I have
not, unfortunately, been able to learn the exact age of the pods.

On Saturday last I plucked a fine pod of Queensland cotton
(growing in the garden of a friend) that was supposed to be nearly
full grown, and was upwards of two inches in vertical diameter.
In the hairs of this I found generally, but not always, a considerable
amount of secondary deposit, made evident by the thickening of
the walls and by its action on polarized light. But in the hairs of
younger pods there was nothing of the kind, and the walls were so
thin as scarcely to afford evidence of their presence, it requiring
considerable power to bring out the usual double contour line, and
they had no action, singly, on polarized light, although they
became a little luminous in a mass of many.

The growing cotton fibre is an elongated cone with a hemi-
spherical apex, and, of course, a circular transverse section. Hach
hair is a single cell. I have sought in vain, with all powers and
every kind of illumination that I thought likely to render it
visible, for any section or transverse division in the hairs, and I
have been equally unsuccessful in my search for spiral fibres,
which Mr. O’Neill says he found in cotton by means of re-agents,
and I believe I am justified in saying that spiral fibre did not exist
in any cotton hairs hitherto examined by me. But I have yet to
examine pods of a later growth, and spiral fibre may yet appear,
but I must confess I do not expect it.

I have not seen any twist in growing fibre, and, notwithstanding
the pressure to which the hairs are probably exposed, I have seen
no flattening from this cause, but the hairs of course collapse and
become flat when from any cause the cell contents are absent.
From sections I have made and examined I believe that in the
younger pods the hairs wind round the seeds; in the more
advanced stages the hairs of neighbouring seeds intermingle, and
this may account for the bent and twisted appearance of dry
cotton, that is, in some degree; but the principal cause will

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 229

doubtless be found in the desiccation of the cotton after it is
exposed to the sun by the bursting of the capsule.

I must not omit to mention that when by pressure a portion of
the contents is expelled from the cotton hairs, it frequently
appears in the form of small spheres, in which an active molecular
movement of granules is seen, just as in the mucous corpuscles
from the mouth, from which, in appearance, they only differ in
their larger size.

I have seen in some dry Sea Island cotton, with a =5th and
polarized light, what Mr. Sidebotham (was it he P) took for spiral
fibres, I presume; but they are only visible in places and not in
all hairs. I confess that at present I am a sceptic on this point.

With apologies for this hasty letter,
I am, dear Sir,
Your most obedient servant,

J. Mircnet, Captain,
Superintendent Madras Musewn.

May 9th, 1864.

Officers elected 9th May, 1864:—President, Joseph Side-
botham; Vice Presidents, Arthur G. Latham, Thomas Allcock,
M.D., John B. Dancer; Secretary, Henry Alexander Hurst.

Of the Council:—Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S., Thomas H.
Nevill, John Parry, W. H. Heys, W. Roberts, M.D., W. C.
Williamson, F.R.S., &c., Murray Gladstone, L. H. Grindon.

ANNUAL REPORT, 1864.

The Council of your Section in presenting this, their sixth
annual report, have to regret the loss of their late Secretary, Mr.
George Mosley, whose untiring industry and zeal in promoting
the progress of the Society can hardly be over estimated. One
of the first members, he was from its very commencement an
indefatigable worker in its cause, and the Council believe that to
him, in a great measure, may be attributed the marked success
and increasing usefulness of this Section. His place has been
very ably filled by Mr. H. A. Hurst, one of the original sug-
gestors of a Microscopical Society in Manchester, and also one of
our oldest members, who has without hesitation very kindly
acceded to the request of the Council to take upon himself the
duties of Honorary Secretary of the Society.

Your Council have only to record the accession of one new
member during the past Session, which has been one of compara-
tive quietude in the history of Microscopical science.

230 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

The following papers and communications have been laid before
you at the meetings held this Session :—

Two communications “ On the structure of the Cotton Fibre at
various stages of its growth,” by Captain J. Mitchell, of Madras.

A paper by Messrs. Thomas Davies and J. D. Dale, “On
Transparent Injections.”’

A paper by W. H. Hyslop, “On mounting Microscopie pre-
parations in Canada balsam and chloroform.”

“Description of an instrument for collecting soundings free
from tallow,’’ by Captain Baker, ship “ Niphon.”

A paper by Mr. Sidebotham, “On mounting objects for the
Microscope in fluids,” illustrated by specimens mounted in 1842
and subsequent years.

“Suggestions as to the use of mica slips and covers instead of
glass, when employing high object-glasses,” by Mr. Sidebotham.

Addresses “‘ On the present state and aims of Microscopic In- -
vestigation,” by Professor Williamson and Mr. Sidebotham.

The Society have also been favoured, by Mr. Dancer, with the
exhibition of a new and improved owy-caleuim Microscope.

Abstracts of most of the above communications have been
printed in the proceedings of the Society, and in the ‘ London
Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science.’

Many discussions have taken place regarding the structure of
the cotton fibre.

Your Council would remind the members that ample supplies
of cotton plants are being raised for their use, and trust the
structure of cotton fibre will be fully investigated during the
recess, the members having at their command better object-glasses
and instruments than have been hitherto applied to these investi-
gations. Mr. Grindon has kindly promised to supply pods to
members who apply for them.

Supplies of soundings have continued to arrive from various
quarters of the world, and it is to be hoped another year will not
elapse ere some attempt be made to examine and classify the fine
collection now in the possession of the Section. The addition to
your microscopical objects has not been important, excepting
twenty-four beautiful slides df scales of diurnal lepidoptera, illus-
trating Mr. John Watson’s paper on the subject, read at our
previous Session ; a fine specimen of Microscopic writing on glass
presented by Mr. W. J. Rideout, and some fine sections of cotton
from Mr. Crum, illustrating his pamphlet on the subject.

Your Council would earnestly solict the donation of good illus-
trative slides, which would always be accessible to the members,
and hope that in time a valuable collection of authentic specimens
may be brought together to serve for reference.

The attention of the Section is respectfully called to a new rule
of the Parent Society admitting associates to the Section on their
paying half a guinea yearly subscription to tke Section and a
similar sum to the Parent Society. These associates enjoy the
privileges of attending the meetings of the Section to which they

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 231

belong, and also the use of the reading room, with access to the
valuable library of the Parent Society. It is to be hoped that
this measure will add to the number and efficiency of the Section.

The Treasurer submits the following account of receipts and
expenditure of the past year :

J. G. Lynde, Treasure’, in account with the Microscopical. Section
of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, from
May 18th, 1863, to May 9th, 1864.

Dr Steed. Cr. £ s. d.
To Balance of last Account 4 15 2 | By Microscopical Journal. 0 10 0
Subscriptions received 16 5 0 Printing and Stationery 1 1 0
RIT i oss ncdebmmabe ss 016 0

Literary and Philoso-

phical Society for
attendance ......... 0
Tea and Coffee ......... 216 0
Postages! 40.2 MINN 0 711
Balwnee ysis 1S fi 9
£21 0 2 £21 0 2

Examined and found correct,
Joun Siace, Jun., ,
RoseRT WORTHINGTON, } Auditor a:

In conclusion, your Council would earnestly beg members to
avail themselves of the ensuing recess to work up some of the
many mysteries still existing in Microscopic Science. The move-
ments of Diatomacez,—reported Ameeba in the interior of Plants,
—Sexuality of Infusoria,—are all subjects which will amply repay
careful thought and investigation. The doubt existing as to the
cause of the first, may be considered almost a reproach to Micro-
scopic workers.

Your Council would also express a hope that the next Session
may be as fruitful (if not more so) than the last.

The Report of the Committee appointed to consider the best means of
mounting objects belonging to the Section, was read and received.

COPY OF THE REPORT.

The Committee appointed to consider the best means of mounting
the objects belonging to the Section have now to report, that
several meetings have been held to fix upon the method to be
pursued to carry out the views of the members.

The following resolutions and recommendations have been

assed :
1. It is desirable that the soundings be first attended to, and
that a specimen of each be mounted dry for the cabinet, to show
the sand and the general character of the sea-bottom or harbour
from whence it was obtained.

232 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

2. Those soundings containing interesting specimens may be
afterwards mounted on a slide of Nevill’s cells, each description
separate. ;

3. That it may be desirable to request certain members to
prepare cells, others to mount the specimens, and others to examine
and report upon them when mounted.

4, That any of the members of the Section who may desire to
assist in the work can do so; and that a register be kept of
specimens delivered to members and the time of return.

5. That the Section shall provide glass slides and thin glass for
the purpose of mounting the specimens. ~ .

6. Duplicate slides of interesting objects from soundings may
be exchanged for other objects not in the eabinet.

7. The specimens of Indian woods may be mounted for distri-
bution amongst the members by any member who may wish to
take charge of them, and who will at the same time mount one
slide of each for the cabinet; the blocks to be returned to the
Section when done with.

8. That a catalogue of the objects now in the cabinet be made
as soon as convenient.

9. The Committee recommends that three curators be annually
appointed, who shall have charge of the management of the
specimens belonging to the Section.

LInNEAN SOCIETY.

On the Sprrat Marxtines of the Fuocci im the Genus TRIcHIA.
By the Rev. M. J. Berxuey, M.A., F.LS.

A good deal of controversy has arisen respecting the real
nature of the spiral markings in the genus Trichia, which were
first observed by Schmidel and the younger Hedwig, and after-
wards more exactly, on modern improvements in the microscope,
by Klotzch and Corda, who were probably, at the time they
made their observations, unaware of the earlier notices. The
accuracy of Corda’s drawings has, however, been called in ques-
tion ; and mycologists, a few months back, were pretty equally
divided on either side, the one regarding the threads as real spiral
vessels, the other insisting that the spiral lines were due to tor-
sion, while Mr. Currie advocated a third opinion, in which he has
been followed by De Bary and Wigand, viz., that the markings
were due to elevations in the threads assuming a spiral direction.

The question has again been brought immediately under my
notice by some observations of Mr. Knight, sent in a letter to
Dr. Hooker from New Zealand, an extract of which I shall beg to
lay before the Society.

“T notice,” writes Mr. Knight, “in the review of Mr. Ber-
keley’s ‘ Outline of British Fungology’ in the ‘ Natural History

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 233

Review’ of January, 1861, p. 8, that the reviewer states, in re-
spect of spiral vessels, that it is true that all the species of Zrichia
contains threads, all of which bear spiral markings, but the nature
of the markings is still a subject of controversy.

“ That these threads are true spiral threads I cannot doubt. I
should, three or four years ago, have drawn your attention to the
observations I had made on the subject, had I not been under the
impression that the controversy had ceased, and the spiral nature
of those cells been admitted.

“ T send you now a tracing of a sketch which I made several
years ago. You will see that there are three distinct continuous
spirals —not asperities, nor what the reviewer terms arcuate eleva-
tions of the cell-wall following a spiral direction. ‘That there
may be no doubt of the correctness of the observation, I enclose
for Mr. Berkeley a few specimens of a Zrichia collected here.
I have had them some time, and they may not be so well adapted
for observation as when in a living state. With a good micro-
scope and a 1th object-glass the spirals are brought out quite dis-
tinct, but a 4th may be necessary to enable one to count the num-
ber of spirals.

‘* Previous to observation, the specimen should be placed for a
few hours in cold water, and then in boiling water. A shallow
eye-glass would be best to use with the 1th; otherwise, from the
age of the specimen, the crossing of the threads will give the ap-
pearance of asperities. The size of the spores is at least four
times too great to admit of their being a spore attached to each
asperity.”’

Just after the receipt of Mr. Knight’s communication, a very
learned paper, by Herr Wigand, appeared in Pringsheim’s “ Jahr-
biicher fiir wissenschaftliche Botanik,” (published at the end of
November, 1861) on the genus 7ichia and the nearly allied genus
Arcyria, which differs principally from Zrichia in the absence of
spiral markings, or rather in the frequent substitution of rings
instead of spirals. The memoir is accompanied by numerous and
most careful figures ; and while it is quite convincing as to the
threads bearing a very close relation to the spiral vessels of higher
plants, it shows at the same time that they cannot be considered
(at least, so far as herbarium specimens show) as vessels contain-
ing a free spiral thread, or even a raised spiral thread attached to
the inner walls, but rather as having an elevation of their walls
from within in a spiral direction, so as to leave a groove exter-
nally between each volution of the spiral,—the hollow of the
spiral itself being filled up afterwards, it should seem, by the
deposition of new matter, though never in such a degree as to

roduce a raised spiral thread within the tube ; they resemble, in
fact, if I may be allowed to use the illustration, a male screw rather
than a female. As a proof of the deposit being subsequent
to the spiral elevations, he adduces the fact that when first
formed they are colourless, and that they only become opaque at a
later period of development. In certain states of Trichia furcata,

VOL. IV.—NEW SER. R

234 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

as in Arcyra punicea, he finds rings instead of spirals, and, in
some threads of the former, rings and spirals at the same time,
with the addition of bladder-like swellings or beads towards the
extremities. In Zrichia abietina the spiral branches, and after
two or three volutions become simple again, then running in a
horizontal detection so as to form imperfect rings, and then again
becoming oblique, exactly after the fashion of the mixed vessels
of Phenogams. Such phases, it is clear, could never be pre-
sented by any twisting of a flat thread, even where there is one
spiral alone—not to mention the fact that the threads are, from
their earliest growth, not flat, but cylindrical—much less where
the threads themselves are branched and, at the same time, irre-
gular in outline, as is frequently the case. Tull a thin vertical
slice from a thread can be obtained, it may be impossible to say,
so positively as to convince all gainsayers, notwithstanding the
deeper tint, whether there is really any deposit in the inside of
the threads corresponding to the spiral markings, though in rx
case the elevations are due simply to some action within, whic
take place in a spiral or circular direction, passing occasionally
from one into the other.

I have examined Mr. Knight’s specimens, prepared precisely
according to his directions, and with an object-glass of one-fifth I
see, clearly enough to satisfy myself, that there is a depression in
the membrane of the thread between each spiral exactly as the
structure is figured by Wigand, and, indeed, previously by Mr.
Currey,* though, at the same time, it seems clear to me that there
is no twisting of the thread, and that the appearance could never
have been brought about by mere torsion. In Battarea I have
seen the vessels more closely approaching the type in Phe-
nogams; and, unless I am greatly deceived, I have on former
occasions, in individuals of Trichia which had just passed from the
milky stage, seen nearer approaches to this than any which are
figured in Wigand’s plates. Be this, however, asit may, whether
the difference be greater or less, it is pretty certain that the spiral
marking of the threads is a case rather of affinity than analogy;
and we cannot entirely deny the existence of spiral vessels in
fungi, though they may exhibit a somewhat different type from
that to which we are accustomed. I have seen precisely the same
arcuate elevations in the cells of Sphagnum, respecting the spiral
threads of which I believe there is no doubt.—Jowrnal of Lin.
Soc., Vol. VII, p. 54.

On the SPICULA contained in the Woon of the WELWITSCHIA, and
the CRYSTALS pertaining to them. By Colonel Puitre Yorxe,
E.R.S. .

WueEn the spicula were immersed in dilute hydrochloric acid,
even though they remained in the liquid several hours, there was
no action on the crystals.

* © Quart. Journ. Mie. Sci.’ Vol. ITI, Pl. I, fig 4.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 235

Also when the spicula were placed in a platinum spoon with
hydrofluoric acid and heated, and when the same was done with a
solution of caustic soda, there was no apparent action on the
crystals.

On the other hand, when the spicula were boiled in nitric acid,
the crystals disappeared.

When a few spicula were carefully burned by heating them on
platinum foil over a small spirit-flame, a white ash remained of the
form of the spicula; and when this ash, moistened with water,
was examined by the microscope, it was found to be made up of a
congeries of the crystals unaltered in form, and acting on polarized
light.
“When a drop of dilute hydrochloric acid was added, the crystals
disappeared, apparently with effervescence.

A quantity of the spicula was collected which weighed 0:105
gr. ; this was carefully burned as before ; the ash weighed 0:010
gr., or just 10 per cent.: water added to the ash, the liquid slightly
restored the blue of reddened litmus; a drop of hydrochloric acid
added, the ash dissolved with brisk effervescence ; and when this,
neutralized by ammonia, was tested by oxalate of ammonia, a con-
siderable precipitate formed.

The supernatant liquid was removed, and tested by phosphate of
soda; but avery minute, if any, precipitate was thus formed.

This experiment shows that the substance examined is essen-
tially carbonate of lime, possibly with a little carbonate of magnesia.

The form of the crystals also supports this view, though their
minuteness renders the examination difficult. By far the greater

Sketches of the crystals.

number of the crystals presented a rhombic outline, the largest
measuring in their longer diagonal 5755th of an inch. Some
approximation to the measure of the angles was obtained by
means of a doubly refracting prism fitting on to the eye-piece of the
microscope ; the mean of several measures gave 106° nearly as the
value of the obtuse angle (that of cale-spar being 105°5’). With
regard to the prismatic-looking crystals occasionally seen, several,
examined by favorable light, presented the figure a, 0.

This form of rhomboid resembles that which was called by
Haiiy the “inverse,” a peculiarity of which is, that its plane
angles measure the same as the dihedral angles of the primary
rhomboid. -

The crystals of the so-called crystallized sandstone of Fontaine-
bleau (which are carbonate of lime containing sand) are instances
of this form.

236 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES,

As it appears, therefore, that these crystals consist of carbonate
of lime, the question remains, What is it that protects themfrom .
the action of acids ?

Some light is thrown on this question by the following observa-
tions :

Alcohol and ether, even when heated, had ‘not the power of
removing the protecting substance; but if, after digesting with
ether, the spicula were boiled in solution of caustic soda and sub-
sequently immersed in dilute hydrochloric acid, the crystals
disappeared, and their places were occupied by amorphous patches.

There is one’ objection that may perhaps be taken to the view
here adopted as to the nature of the crystals, which may as well
be noticed. It may be thougut that in the plant the lime was |
united to some organic acid, say the oxalic. But it will be
admitted that, putting aside the agreement in form with carbonate
of lime, the fact of the crystals being unaltered in form by burn-
ing, and retaining the power of acting on polarized light, is fatal
to such an hypothesis.—Jouwrnal of Linn. Soc., Vol. VII, p. 106.

Royat Sociery.

“ A Contribution to the Minute Anatomy of the Retina of
Ampuisia and Reprites. By J. W. Hurxe, F.R.CS.
Assistant-Surgeon to the Middlesex and the Royal London
Ophthalmic Hospitals. Communicated by W. Bowman, Esq
Received February 4, 1864.

(Abstract.)

The animals of which the retina was examined were the frog,
the black and yellow salamander, the edible turtle, the water- and
the land-tortoise, the Spanish Gecko, the blindworm, and the
common snake. The method adopted was to examine the retina
(where possible) immediately after decapitation of the animal,
alone and with chemical agents; and to make sections of the
retina hardened in alcohol or in an aqueous solution of chromic
acid, staining them with iodine or carmine, and adding glyceriue,
pure and diluted, to make them transparent. The following is a
summary of the results of the examination:

1. The rods and cones consist of two segments, the union of
which is marked by a bright transverse line.

2. Each segment consists of a membranous sheath and contents.

3. The outer segment, or shaft, is a long narrow rectangle (by
inference, a prism or cylinder). It refracts more highly than the
_inuer segment. Its contents are structureless, and of an albu-
minous nature. It is that part which is commonly known as “ the
vod.’ It is smaller in the cones than in the rods, and in the cones
narrows slightly outwards.

4. The outer ends of the shafts rest upon the inner surface of

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 287

the choroid, and their sides are separated by pigmented processes,
prolonged from the inner surface of the choroid between them to
the line that marks the union of the shaft with the inner segment.
The effect of this is that the shafts are completely insulated, and
rays entering one shaft are prevented passing out of it into neigh-
bouring shafts.

5. The inner segment of the rods and cones, or body (the ap-
pendage of some microscopists), has a generally flask-shaped form,
longer and more tapering in the rods, shorter and stouter in the
cones. It is much paler and less conspicuous than the shaft. It
fits in an aperture in the membrana limitans externa.

Its inner end always encloses, or is connected by an inter-
mediate band with an outer granule which lies in or below the
level of the membrana limitans externa. Its outer end, in cones
only, contains a spherical bead nearly colourless in the frog and
blindworm, brilliantly coloured in the turtle and water- and land-
tortoises, and absent from the common snake and Spanish Gecko.
In addition to this bead, where present, and the outer granule,
the body contains an albuminous substance which in chromic acid
preparations retires as an opaque granular mass towards the outer
end of the body. The inner end of the body is prolonged inwards,
in the form of a pale, delicate fibre, which was sometimes followed
through the layer of inner granules into the granular layer. It
does not appear to be structurally connected with the inner gra-
nules. It is essentially distinct from Miiller’s radial fibres, and
bears a considerable resemblance to the axis-cylinder of nerve.
That it ever proceeds from the outer granule associated with the
rod- or cone-body is doubtful, from the consideration («) that
where the body is large, and the granule lies within at some
distance from its contour, the fibre is seen to leave the inner end
of the body distinct from the granule, and (/) that the fibre
appears to proceed from the outer granule only where the body is
small, as in the frog, and where the granule does not lie within
the body, but is joined to this by a band. Ritter’s axial fibres are
artificial products.

6. The “outer granules” are large, circular, nucleated cells.
Each cell is so intimately associated with a rod- or cone-body that
it forms an integral part of it.

7. The intergranular layer is a web of connective fibre. It
contains nuclei.

8. The inner granules are roundish, in chromic acid prepara-
tions polygonal cells. They differ from the outer granules by
their higher refraction, by the absence of a nucleus, and by
receiving a deeper stain from carmine. They lie in areole of
connective tissue derived from Miiller’s radial fibres, and from
the intergranular and granular layer. They are more numerous
than the outer granules, and consequently than the rods and
cones.

9. The granular layer is a very close fibrous web derived in part
from Miiller’s radial fibres, and from other fibres proceeding from

238 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

the connective frame of the layer of inner granules. It transmits
(a) the radial fibres, (3) fibres proceeding radially outwards from
the ganglion-cells and bundles of optic nerve-fibres, and () fibres
passing inwards from the rod- and cone-bodies.

10. The ganglion-cells communicate by axis-cylinder-like fibres
with the bundles of optic nerve-fibres, and send similar fibres
outwards, which have been traced some distance in the granular
layer.

TL In the frog and Spanish Gecko the author has a few times
traced fibres proceeding from the bundles of optic nerve-fibres for
some distance in a radial direction in the granular layer.

12. Miiller’s radial fibres arise by expanded roots at the outer
surface of the membrana limitans interna, pass radially through
the layers, contributing in their course to the granular layer, to
the areolar frame of the layer of inner granules, and end in the
intergranular layer and at the inner surface of the membrana
limitans externa. They are a connective and not a nervous tissue,
and do not communicate between the basilary element . and
ganglion-cells.

13. The orderly arrangement of the several lavers and their
elementary parts is maintained by a frame of connective tissue
which consists of—l, an unbroken homogeneous membrane
bounding the inner surface of the retina, the membrana limitans
interna; 2, a fenestrated membrane which holds the rods and
cone-bodies, the membrana limitans externa, first correctly
described by Schultze; 3, an intermediate system of tie-fibres—
Miiller’s radial fibres—connected with which in the layer of inner
granules are certain oblong and fusiform bodies of uncertain
nature; 4, the intergranular layer; 5, an areolated tissue, open in
the layers of outer and inner granules, and very closely woven in
the granular layer.

14. No blood-vessels occur in the reptilian retina.—‘ Proc. of
Royal Soc.,’ Vol. XITI, p. 138.

Hutt Micro-PHILosoPpHICcAL SOCIETY.

The fifth winter sessional course of this Society, comprising
twelve meetings (bi-monthly), for the purpose of delivering
papers, with discussions thereupon, terminated on the 11th day
of March last; the attendances were generally good, and a lively
interest in microscopical research duly maintained.

George Norman, Esq., the President, gave the opening subject,
“On Cleaning Diatomaceous Deposits,” stating that the first im-
portant point to be ascertained is, the nature of the material
which binds the mass together. In the generality of deposits,
this seems to be aluminous earthy matter, often mixed with some
siliceous material which renders the action of acids of little avail.

When the bulk of the deposit is clayey matter, the best plan is
to place the lumps broken quite small into a vessel, and pour on

ee EE

———— Ss Src tsé'l''' .,.m)mhCm.mhrmre ee

,
———

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 239

a few ounces of water, hot, and rendered thoroughly alkaline with
common washing soda; this plan frequently answers, causing the
lumps to swell, gradually separating into layers, and finally fall-
ing asunder into a pulpy mass. The strong soda ley must now
be removed by frequent washing, and afterwards boiled in a
florence flask with pure nitric acid; the whole must afterwards be
transferred to a large stoppered vessel and violently shaken, in
order to break up the minute fragments of dirt, and thus to free
the siliceous diatoms. After shaking, allow the vessel to stand
for a space of time, varying from half to one hour or more, accord-
ing to the size and density of the valves; the diatoms having sub-
sided, the dirty water is drawn off with a syphon, fresh water
added, and the shaking repeated. The whole secret indeed depends
upon getting rid of the impurities by this violent shaking and
washing ; when quite free from all impurities the material may be
transferred to a test-tube, washed in distilled water, and fimally
mounted.

Sometimes the binding material may be siliceous, in which
ease the only plan is to adopt Professor Bailey’s caustic soda
method, viz., boiling the material very slightly in a strong solu-
tion of caustic soda or potash, and suddenly pouring it into a
large quantity of cold water to check the action of the alkali on
the siliceous diatoms; the after process of boiling in nitric acid
and shaking up is nearly similar to that already described. _

Some of the Barbadoes and Oregon deposits were mentioned as
being alike unacted upon by either acids or alkalies, in which case
Mr. Norman had found a plan of long-continued boiling in plain
water as the only adoptable method to break the lumps down.
The gentle abrasion of the small particles during the boiling freed
many of the valves which would have been destroyed had more
force have been used. The finely abraded powder is to be boiled
in acid as before mentioned; a previous boiling in soda or liquid
ammonia had in some cases been found beneficial.

Should oxide of iron be present, which is shown by its red or
yellow colour, muriatic acid must be used; the employment of
sulphuric acid is always to be avoided should the presence of any
lime be suspected. Gypsum or sulphate of lime in small quan-
tities may be removed, by boiling in a solution of soda and then
with nitric acid.

Should vegetable matter exist, it must be charred by boiling in
strong sulphuric acid, and afterwards adding with caution finely
powdered chlorate of potash.

When after careful boiling in acids there remains much floccu-
lent matter, which falls with the diatoms and is difficult to get
rid of, a few drops of liquid ammonia shaken up with the material
causes the filth to remain a long time suspended, and may thus
be drawn off with the water.

Mr. Hanwell’s paper on the “ Gastric Teeth of Insects” was
illustrated by numerous slides of his own preparing, including
those of the wasp, bee, cricket, cockroach, Dysticus, Staphylinus,

240 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

ant, and flea, the last named of which provoked discussion, some
members questioning the existence of gastric teeth, the flea being
non-mandibulate ; but several slides exhibiting the teeth im situ.
as well as being separate also, the fact was generally admitted.
Mr. Hanwell recommends the teeth of the cricket to be mounted
in spirit and-water, and then viewed as an opaque object.

Mr. Hendry upon one occasion displayed involuntary muscular
fibre tinted with carmine obtained from the umbilicus and other
parts, and contrasted these with the ordinary striped fibres. Upon
a second occasion T'eichmann’s blood-crystals were produced in
the presence of the members, and these were contrasted with the
ordinary chemical evidences of blood in stains, spots, &c. And
upon a third occasion Mr. Hendry exhibited as a novelty his
newly obtained microscopical crystals in thin glass, through the
agency of the blowpipe alone, probably a new arrangement by
fusion of the ordinary constituents of glass, exhibiting uniformity
in figure and nothing wanting either in number or beauty ; speci-
mens have already been forwarded to some members of the
Metropolitan Society.

Mr. Prescott read a paper on the larger stinging nettle
(Urtica dioica), in which he embodied the result of his hitherto
unfinished researches on this much neglected order, observing
that plants bearing perfect hermaphrodite flowers are far more
common than are usually suspected, and in the male flowers are
constantly found minute organs representing rudimentary pistils.

With respect to the stinging hairs on the leaves and stem of the
plant, they do not, as stated by some botanical authority, collapse
at the base when the point is touched, but a slight discharge of
an irritating fluid is caused by the removal of the button at the
extremity of the hair, and much of the irritation known as the
sting is probably due to the pointed button remaining in the flesh
when detached from the hair.

This interesting paper was amply illustrated by numerous well-
mounted slides of microscopic sections of the plant, affording
ready comparison with various excellent drawings of the same
laid upon the table.

Dr. Kelbourne King in the course of the session delivered two
excellent demonstrations, one upon the “ Microscopical Structure
of the Kidney,” with mounted and fresh specimens, and another
“On the Development of the Ovum,” in illustration of the views
of modern authors.

Mr. Hunter exhibited polarization as a test in analysis whereby
distinguishing soda and potash and other salts. '
Mr. Ball, of Brigg, exhibited in very great variety and beaut
slides of his own mounting of the tongues of snails, &., with

comment thereupon.

Mr. James Young, one of the earliest of the Hull microscopists,
and zealous labourer in the field of natural history, gave an in-
teresting paper on the roots of plants, &e., with illustrations,
under the following heads: —Source of plants, trees, &e. Fructi-

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 241

fication—peculiar forms of pollen—mysterious cause of species—
power of germ—absorbing power of roots—effects of destroying
tibres of roots—increase of stems downwards—aincrease of roots up-
wards. Roots in stems, leaves, &c. Law of nature in producing
variety—variety how continued. Rule of growth from seed, con-
trary by roots, bulbs, &c.-—power of roots in penetrating through
dense clay, &c. Neglected valuable roots—stems changing into
roots in autumn—changing annuals into biennials and perennials.
Error of cropping perennial grasses in autumn—sap not descend-
ing. Torpidity of roots according to temperature—why the
absence of sap-supply—how to produce monster masses of shoots
—transpiration of sap—valve of roots—a dozen different names
for roots according to manner of growth, form, &c.—sceptical
opinions with regard to roots and plants—Creator’s provision to
perpetuate them against destruction—not the same provision for
man and animals, being confined to seed, and by seed only can
they continue their species. A leg, arm, finger, &c., can never
produce or continue a similar creature.
Witr1am Henpry, Hon. Sec,

On Henpry’s Crystats. By Witt1amM Henpry, Esq., Secretary
of the Hull Microphilosophical Society.

(Read May 11th, 1863.)

(ABSTRACT.)

The author stated that four years since, in attempting to sub-
stitute fusion by the blowpipe for cement, in fixing their glass
covers to slides, he noticed masses of crystals produced in the
covers after the treatment, and believing them to be unkown, he
named them after himself. To obtain the crytals he heats a thin
glass cover on a piece of mica, over a spirit-lamp, holding both
with forceps ; then quickly turning them to the side of the flame,
applies a blowpipe, withdrawing the cover to the apex of the
flame for a few moments. An examination with a 1 or 3-inch ob-
jective will then show the crystals. Similar results were observed
in a thin glass slide, after a similar treatment, when examined
with a+;th objective. Specimens were sent with the paper, and
the author suggests that it would be desirable to ascertain the
chemical nature of the crystals, whether a silicate of lead or
soda,

Boston Naturat History Socrery.

Av a meeting of the above Society, March, 1864, Mr. C. Stodder
exhibited a specimen of diatomaceous earth, with a slide of the
same under the microscope. The specimen was from the land of

24:2 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Mr. D. Faxon, in Randolph, Mass., found under the following
conditions :-—

The surface of the country is generally undulating. There is
slight depression, with a level tract in the centre, nearly circular,
of about one hundred feet diameter, apparently like any ordinary
New England meadow, flooded with water: but, on walking ono
to it, it is found, unlike flooded meadow lands, to be not soft and
miry, but nearly as firm and hard as the surrounding dry land.
The surface is covered with grasses and turf two to three inches
thick. Immediately below that is found the material exhibited,
which has in one spot been excavated to the depth of ten feet
without finding the bottom of it. It contains vegetable matter,
afew fibres, to the amount of five or ten per cent.; the remainder
is entirely organic, nearly all whole or broken frustules of
diatoms, with some spicules of sponges. Not one particle of sand
or other inorganic matter has been discovered after the strictest
search with the microscope.

The diatoms as yet have presented no species of particular
interest. The genus Himantidiwm is most abundant; next, Pinnu-
laria and Stauroneis. No attempt has been made to make any
list of species found, as all are common in thousands of sub-peat de-
posits in New England. It would be a matter of interest to know
if the species are the same at different depths from the surface ;
but no opportunity has yet been afforded for that, nor is it
known from what depth the specimen examined was taken.

Under what conditions could this enormous accumulation of
diatoms have been deposited? An examination of land in the
immediate vicinity has given the clue to a probable explanation.
As already stated, the locality is a slight depression from the
general surface around. There is a very small stream of water
running into and through it. The outlet is through a ridge of
drift gravel, and has been artificially deepened some five feet since
the settlement of the country. Before this lowering of the
outlet, the place must have been a pond, with some four to five
feet of water above the present surface. The small stream
running into it comes from some twenty or thirty acres of
meadow, from a hundred yards to a quarter of a mile distant, and
a few feet (less than ten apparently) higher level. Now the
pond, when it existed, was too deep for the growth of peat-form-
ing plants, and not favorable for the growth of diatoms in any
large quantity. But the meadows above were, particularly before
the cultivation of the country and the introduction of artificial
drainage, most favorable for the growth of diatoms. The sluggish
stream draining the meadows would have force enough, especially
in floods, to wash out the diatoms, and not enough to move sand:
neither could the meadows supply sand. When the diatoms
reached the pond they would of course settle to the bottom ; for
the mass of water in the pond being so great in proportion to the
supply, there would be no perceptible current in it. In fact,
it was a perfect natural trap for the diatoms, in principle exactly

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 243

like the process used for separating diatoms from sand and other
coarse material, in mounting for the microscope. The course of.
the little stream running into the pond is for a few rods through
aridge of drift material. This undoubtedly furnished some sand
and coarse material, but it would be deposited almost immediately
on entering the quiet water of the pond, and undoubtedly it will
now be found directly against the entrance of the stream.

After the examination of this place, the conclusion must be
that this deposit has been forming ever since the close of the
drift period, when the surface of the earth received its present
conformation.

APOTHECARIES’ SOCIETY.

On Tuesday, the 31st of May, the Master and Wardens of the
Society of Apothecaries opened» their ancient hall in Black-
friars to receive a large party of scientific men and their friends,
As at this conversazione the chief objects of interest that were
exhibited were microscopes, microscopic objects, and enlarged
diagrams, we select from the accounts in the papers and
journals a few extracts, as a record of an interesting event, and
an expression of our gratitude to the liberal hosts who so muni-
ficently catered for the intellectual benefit of their friends. The
‘Medical Times and Gazette,’ describing the entertainment,
says, “ Very seldom in this country has such a magnificent col-
lection of microscopes and microscopical objects been brought
together. All the great manufacturers of microscopes con-
tributed instruments. It would be impossible to give anything
like a full list of the varied and beautiful objects displayed. We
may notice, however, a few of them. Amongst those exhibited
by Messrs. Powell and Lealand was the circulation of the sap in
the Valisneria, shown by a = th inch object-glass. Mr. Warring-
ton exhibited, in a small aquarium, Phoronis Hippocrepia, the An-
nelidan homomorph of the Hippocrepian Polyzoa. The Hippo-
erepian tentacular plume, with the csophagus and the vessels
conveying the blood to and from the ciliated tentacule, were
beautifully shown. Mr. Ross exhibited some objects under
Kelner’s large field eyepieces. A number of binocular micro-
scopes were shown by Messrs. Crouch, Murray and Heath,
Edmund Wheeler, Gould, Smith and Beck, and others. Mr.
Jabez Hogg contributed a beautiful specimen of Trichina spiralis.
But, besides microscopes and microscopical objects, there were
many other things exhibited of great scientific interest. Dr.
King and Dr. Stephen Ward showed a series of very interesting
ethnological water-colour sketches taken from life by Mr. Say,
Mr. Stephen Ward, Miss F. Corbaux, &c. We were espe-
eially struck with the ‘Study of head of young Bushman,’ by

244: PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Mrs. Ward. Mr. Carruthers exhibited some of the first original
sun-pictures on metal plates, with etchings from the same, exe-
euted by M. Niepce in 1827. The Messrs. Wheeler showed various
experiments illustrating the allotropic conditions of several ele-
ments. They also electrolysed water, making use of carbon
poles; and showed that when these were employed carbonic
acid was obtained at the negative pole in place of oxygen.
Another experiment illustrated the bleaching effects of nascent
hydrogen, the gas, at the moment of disengagement, decolorising
a solution of indigo, but having no effect on the same solution
when passed into a wash bottle containing it. On Wednesday
morning, when the microscopical exhibition was visited by a
large number of ladies, the same gentlemen made a series of
brilliant experiments with twenty-four cells of a carbon battery
of their own construction. With this battery they produced a
powerful electric light, and showed the are of the thallium flame
on the screen. Iron and zine were burnt with ease by means of
the battery. They also exhibited the magnesium lght, and showed
beautiful experiments illustrating the fluorescent property of a
solution of sulphate of quinine. There was a very large attend-
ance both on the Tuesday and Wednesday ; on the latter day of
ladies.”’

A less learned critic, writing in one of the daily papers, says,
“Tt was a pleasant change from the darkness, rain, and mud of
Bridge Street, and its dismal sub-ways, when at 8°15 p.m. we
reached the entrance of the hall, made warm and cheerful with
lights, hot-house plants, and a profusion of flowers. At the hall
door we were welcomed by Master Saunders, and found ourselves
in the principal apartment, a handsome oblong chamber, adorned
with portraits of a few of our English sovereigns, commencing
with those of James I. and his ill-starred son, with the likenesses
of many past masters, beginning with John Lorimer, Magister,
1654. This large room was well filled with students and profes-
sors of science, and on long ranges of tables were displayed,
under an almost painful blaze of light, a truly wonderful collec-
tion of microscopes, hardly to be equalled in any of the museums
of the world.

“ Aquatic vegetables, globes inclosing smaller globes, and in
perpetual motion, fairy baloons inflated by a subtle fluid con-
sistent with transparency ; a white human hair, shown in pola-
rized light, and rich in the most brilliant colours; the scalp of a
negro presenting, under the lens a rich, dotted surface; section
of a cat’s tongue, of a rich amber tint, with pearly points; tad-
poles of a newt; animated minute dark bodies moving with great
velocity; marine polyzoa, shown with remarkable clearness;
crystals of borax, and oxalate of ammonia, exceeding in beauty
and splendour the most perfect assemblage of gems; the injected
lung of a sheep, a brilliant field of vivid scarlet varied with
dazzling crystal points ; muscle of a mouse, injected ; toe of the

same animal; spine of echinus; intestine of a frog; and the

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 245

tongue of a drome fly—each of these minute objects including a
little world of wonders. The sides of the hall were hung with a
collection of surpassingly perfect diagrams, illustrative of all
the kingdoms of nature, especially the various departments of
physiology, and an endless variety of beautiful botanical studies.
They were no doubt contributed for the occasion by the chief
professors of those fascinating sciences. In a smaller side room
was displayed a large collection of specimen chemicals, metals,
aud curious products of human industry; a miniature ancient
catalogue of plants, copiously annotated by Ray, the great natura-
list, and used by him while travelling; some extremely correct
botanical drawings, coloured after nature, by Hindoo artists; a
case of gold coins from a Japanese mint; some original photo-
graphic etchings, thé first attempts in an art now so prodigiously
improved, and abundance of other noteworthy objects too ‘ nu-
merous to mention.’ At the upper end of the hall there were
three stereoscopes on an unusually large scale, representing the
grounds of a chateau, and various phases of rocky and mountain-
ous scenery.

“We spent two very agreeable hours in the rooms of the
company, surrounded on all sides by gentlemen of no common
acquirements, some of whom are of European fame. A few of the
victors in science commanded universal attention, their gray hair
and thoughtful faces challenging that silent reverence which is
so much more valuable than vulgar applause. No better proof
of the progress of scientific education amongst us could be brought
forward than the presence of such an assemblage. The company
had not forgotten the comfort of their guests, for whom a liberal
supply of tea, coffee, cake, and delicately thin slices of roll and
butter was provided. Every visitor must have left the hall with
a deep sense of the courtesy and liberality of his entertainers.
When so much precious time is sacrificed to mere amusement,
which too often leaves nothing behind but a sense of weariness,
it is highly desirable to attract thinking men of all ages, and
especially the young, to such banquets of science, which afford far
more genuine gratification than the showy spectacles which are
addressed merely to the senses, and have no enduring charm for
the mind. Some, doubtless, who availed themselves of the libera-
lity of the compay on this occasion, will commence therefrom a
life-long pursuit of wisdom in its more recondite forms, and be-
come themselves, as years advance, the instructors of a new
generation. Perhaps, however, these meetings would admit of an
improvement: it would instructively and agreeably diversify the
evening if, at intervals, men of acknowledged talent would read
or deliver short addresses (each not occupying above ten minutes)
on subjects illustrative of the specimens exhibited. After an
hour or two, the continued inspection of microscopical objects
exhausts attention, and becomes wearisome from its monotony.
Besides, this would help more completely to carry out the true
notion of a conversazione. The suggestions of new ideas by the

246 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

speakers or readers would afford profitable themes for discussion,
and all would carry away with them for home use intellectual
gleanings of no ordinary value; not merely the recollection of
curious or suggestive objects, but hints at interpretation and teach-
ings too precious to be soon forgotten.”

Amongst other objects of interest not referred to in the
above extracts was an ophthalmic microscope exhibited by Mr.
Ernest Hart, and constructed in such a manner that he was en-
abled to demonstrate by its aid the beautiful vascular structure
of the eye of a living rabbit. A series of drawings also by Mr.
Mummery, of Actinie and other marine animals, excited great
admiration, on account of the accuracy with which minute points
of structure were delineated, and their beautiful execution.

BreminecHam Naturat History ASssocraTion.
Microscorican SECTION.

A Microscopical Section has just been added to the Birmingham
Natural History Society, and promises to take an important rank
among the educational institutions of that large town. The
movement originated in a letter by Mr. Fiddian, which appeared
in one of the Birmingham newspapers, advocating the formation
of a Society devoted to microscopical research. The meetings are
held in a large room at the Midland Institute on the second
Tuesday in every month.

April 12th.—The first paper was read by Mr. Fiddian, subject,
“The History of the Microscope.” The varied forms of the in-
strument were described in a progressive order from the earliest
rude lenses of the ancients to the introduction of the modern
achromatic combination; a full description of the latter being
reserved for a future occasion. The paper was illustrated by well-
executed diagrams, a number of old microscopes, and a remarkable
collection of old and rare books on the microscope.

May 10th.—A paper by Mr. T. Morris on ‘The Simple Micro-
scope,” with practical illustrations of the method of mounting and
using small spheres of glass, Canada balsam, water, and other
transparent media. A collection of insects mounted in a new
style for the microscope was exhibited; also one of Adams’s
variable microscopes made in 1170.

June 14th.—An exhibition of living infusoria and some of the
larger aquatic animals. Among these the Volvor globator, and
the circulation in the branchie of the larva of the newt, excited
the greatest amount of attention.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

CRYSTALLIZATION and the Microscorr.
By Tuomas Daviszs.

In no branch of science does the microscope prove more
useful than in the study of the numerous forms of the
erystallization of salts. The exceeding minuteness of these
forms constitutes no difficulty in their study; and where
their tenuity renders them so transparent as to become
literally invisible, polarized light generally lays them open
to observation, with the addition of every beauty that colour
can bestow. Without this aid, who would have suspected
the rings and cross of nitre, or the gorgeous appearance
of salicme? Even more than this may be asserted when
we remember how many valuable facts there are which
would still remain unknown without the aid of polarized
light and the microscope.

But before the subject is entered into, the question may
be asked, what is crystallization? This may be briefly
described as the formation of certain substances in shapes
according to fixed laws, which shapes are always the same
except under interfering causes. The most frequent ex-
amples of crystallization occur when a solution of some salt
has been made, and the liquid is again driven off by the aid
of heat. If this process is repeatedly performed, on exami-
nation the crystals will always be found of the same shape,
provided that no chemical change has taken place. But it is
not by solution and evaporation alone that this phenomenon
is displayed. From other causes crystals are formed, of
which the three following may be termed the principal :

lst. Simple evaporation (as above), where water is driven
off by heat, or where the salt is soluble to a greater extent
in hot water than cold. A saturated solution being made in
this case in hot water, a certain portion of the salt becomes
crystallized on the liquor cooling.

VOL. IV.—NEW SER. 8

248 DAVIES, ON CRYSTALLIZATION

2nd. Driving off by heat all or part of the water which
is necessary to the formation of the crystal, and after-
wards allowing it to reabsorb the same from the atmosphere,
&c., as copper and magnesia (described in Vol. II, p. 128, of
this Journal).

3rd. Fusion, and again allowing to cool.

From the second part of the first cause above mentioned
it might appear that at a certain temperature the formation
of crystals must inevitably take place; but this is not the
case. Crystals do not readily form in any solution, even
if “ supersaturated,” without some disturbance or inter-
ference. This, perhaps, explains the difference in the shape
of many crystals, as the same accidental causes which aid
their formation necessarily act more or less upon the form
finally assumed. But it must not be understood that the
regulations required to ensure fine and well-shaped crystals
are by any means arbitrary or useless. When crystalliza-
tion commences at a high temperature, and the mother-
liquor is allowed to cool slowly and uniformly, the crystals
are better developed than those obtained by a different mode
of proceeding. As an instance of this may be mentioned
the following :—Mr. Jno. G. Dale has frequently shown me
the vats in which he erystallizes certain of his salts. These
are not only made warm before the solutions are allowed to
flow into them, but are deeply imbedded in sawdust, which
is an imperfect conductor of heat, and thereby the cooling
is rendered much more gradual. Thus the “accumulation”
of crystalline forms receives no more interference from
brother crystals than is absolutely necessary. This accumu-
lation is often distinctly visible in large crystals, particularly
in alum. One which I have lately obtained from the vats
of my friend Mr. Dale shows each superimposed plate very
clearly, though the transparency is almost perfect.

In cases where crystals are formed in masses their shapes
are necessarily rendered invisible. Thick ice might be sup-
posed to show no crystalline structure. It is, however, by no
means “ structureless,” in proof of which may be quoted the
authority of Professor Tyndall :—* Crystallization during
freezing, takes place very similarly to snow crystals, even in
thick blocks of ice from Norway or Wenham Lake, and the
constitution of these masses is easily revealed by reversing
the process which formed them. A large converging lens
was placed in the sunbeams passing through a room, and
the piece put into such a position that the poit of con-
vergence fell within it. Along the course of sunlight the
ice became studded with lustrous spots. On examining the

AND THE MICROSCOFE. 249

cube afterwards each spot was surrounded by a liquid flower
of six petals. At first the leaves were unbroken curves,
but when the flowers expanded under a long-continued
action the edges became serrated. ....No matter in what
direction a solar beam is sent through lake ice, the hquid
flowers are all formed parallel to the surface of freezing.”
Thus, not only are the crystals perfect, but all these forms
lie in successive parallel planes. This fact is clearly shown
in many examples of microscopic crystals, The surface
alone is first crystallized, the lower part becoming gradually
assimilated in form to the higher; though, in certain in-
stances, a conflicting arrangement becomes visible, and the
two separate layers of crystals are unlike in some respects,

It is above stated that crystallization requires “ disturb-
ance or interference.” It may be asked, what are these dis-
turbances or interferences? In the present state of our know-
ledge of this science it would be impossible to give anything
like a satisfactory answer to the question. A few of these
causes, however, are known, two of which may be men-
tioned as the principal :

Ist. Sudden change im temperature of certain parts of
the substance, which cause contraction or expansion, and
so give rise to the formation of crystals. Whereyer the
substance varies in thickness this action would be materially
aided. |

2nd. Insoluble atoms, dust, impurities, &c.

As instances of the first cause may be mentioned the
formation of crystals, which is visible when produced on the
microscopic slide. Those at the edge are almost invariably first
‘formed, however equally the slide is heated. Of the second,
the examples are so numerous that they frequently prove a
great annoyance when a large surface of uniform crystalliza-
tion is wanted. A small atom of undissolved salt proves a
nucleus for the accumulation of other portions, and thus
commences a circular growth of crystals, which materially
interferes with the particular arrangement which might be
desired. Dust, which is always floating about in the air, or
fine impurities in the solution, produce important modifica-
tions, just as strings are suspended in the syrup-pans to
serve as nuclei for the formation of sugar-candy.

It may be here remarked that most fused salts are
governed by the same laws as those which are dissolved,

250 DAVIES, ON CRYSTALLIZATION

I. SANTONINE.

I have chosen santonine as the first to be considered.
This substance is procured by boiling seeds of the artemisia
and dry lime in alcohol; the decoction is then distilled,
filtered, evaporated to one half, and afterwards boiled in
an acid solution. When cold the santonine crystallizes in
feathery forms, and after washing in alcohol is redissolved,
and again crystallized. This salt is but sparingly soluble in
water; but at 338° Fahr. it melts, and if the heat is not raised
much higher than this point, and is carefully applied, no
decomposition or change of colour occurs.

To prepare microscopic slides of this beautiful salt a satu-
rated solution may be made in alcohol, then spread upon the
slide, and the liquid evaporated. But this mode of pro-
ceeding is very inferior in the uniformity of its results to
fusion, which may be effected as follows :—A small portion
of the salt must be placed upon the centre of the slide, and
the whole of the slide heated until the santonine is fused.
By the aid of a hot needle the substance must then be evenly
and thinly spread upon the surface required. As the tem-
perature is lowered the formation of crystals, in various
parts of the plate, takes place until the whole fused mass is
covered. These crystals should be then mounted in castor
oil, as santonine is slightly soluble in the Canada balsam
which is ordinarily met with. Should, however, the diffi-
culty in using oil prevent the operator from attempting it,
he may safely use balsam if the film of santonine be a thick
one, and the balsam be no deeper upon the salt than is abso-
lutely necessary. Thus, the coating of balsam will become
saturated with the salt without seriously damaging the crystal,
provided the balsam be pure. But it may be here mentioned
that, as it is usually obtained, it is not unfrequently adul-
terated, turpentine and other solvents being added to the
stock lest it should become hard and useless. ‘These solvents
readily dissolve many substances which remain uninjured
in pure balsam, and thus crystals and other objects are
frequently lost, and the true action of balsam mistaken.

In form the aggregated crystals of santonine differ accord-
ing to the temperature at which formation takes place; but
the salt is not really dimorphous. The changes are produced
by relative position and size of crystals alone. The tempe-
rature at which the salt is fused, however, has no influence in
this particular, but too high a degree of heat during fusion
frequently gives it a brown colour.

st.205 >t Ge Pb *

AND THE MICROSCOPE. 251

These changes of form according to temperature during
crystallization may be divided into three very distinct classes :
Ist. Very hot; when the crystals run from the centre in

sors expanding without any undulations, thus (see Photog.
@. 1).

Photograph No. 1.

2nd. Medium heat; when the crystals show concentric
waves of very decided form, thus (see Photog. No. 2).

3rd. Cool; when the crystals are exceedingly minute, thus
(see Photog. No. 3).

The first-mentioned crystals are so formed because some
powerfully acting cause has produced crystallization whilst
the mass of salt was in a very soft state.. The growth of the
crystal is then uninterrupted for a comparatively long period,
and the surface unbroken.

The second crystals are produced by the whole matter
becoming so cool that the progress of formation is stayed at
certain points by hardness, and immediately a fresh forma-
tion started from these points.

The third are simply the results of the same action as
those of the second class of crystals, rendered more power-
ful by a still greater degree of cold.

To produce the most beautiful microscopic crystals for the
polariscope, it is necessary that they should be formed at a
temperature betwixt the second and third above mentioned,

252 DAVIES, ON CRYSTALLIZATION AND THE MICROSCOPE.

as the minute and flowing forms are then combined, and
long feathery crystals are the result. But to produce cer-

< sn \ Ai i
Nant
WAT

HICKS, ON MR. ARCHER’S PAPER ON ALG. 253

tain forms requires much knowledge of the substance em-
ployed, and some patience, as there are many interfering
causes to combat. Of these the weather is by no means an
inactive one, as it is frequently found almost impossible to
obtain the above-named feathery crystals when the place in
which crystallization takes place is cold and damp. When
the temperature is low, and yet too dry, santonine will fre-
quently assume the form of a uniform semi-transparent
mass after fusion, showing no crystalline shape; yet the
same portion will crystallize beautifully when again fused,
interfermg means being employed. This is also the case
with many other salts.

I myself was long under the impression that it was merely
the thickness of the salt which caused the various forma~
tions; but on closer inspection found that, though thickness
certainly did influence the forms, I did not find it difficult to
procure the same class of crystals with either thick or thin
coverings of the fused salt by recalling the before-mentioned
facts.

Remarks on Mr. Arcuer’s Paper on Arce. By
J. Braxton Hicks, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. -&c.

Ir was with much pleasure I read Mr. Archer’s paper in
your Journal of April, 1864, read before the Natural History
Society of Dublin, inasmuch as it opens up a question of
much interest in many points of view, but more particularly
bearing deeply on the validity of the classification of the
unicellular forms of vegetable life. And as he in many
places refers to my observations on these growths set forth
in former numbers of your Journal, I] may, perhaps, be
allowed to occupy a further space on the same subject.

The title and the whole of this paper, coming as it does
from so able and indefatigable an observer, proves more than
any remarks I could have made the very unsatisfactory
condition in which our knowledge remains, and also the
great difficulty (may I say impossibility?) of fixmg the
separate species or genus to which the majority of the
Palmellacez belong.

When, after all Mr. Archer’s careful and earnest researches
on the subject, the title of this paper is called an “‘ Endeavour
to Identify the Palmoglea Macrococca of Kiitzing” with a
plant which he (Mr. Archer) thinks is meant, but which,

254 HICKS, ON MR. ARCHER’S PAPER ON ALGA.

with another new species, he thinks is referable rather to
another genus, it would seem almost a hopeless task to assist
in the work. If Kiitzing, Naegele, De Bary, and other
equally celebrated algologists, are unable to decide the position
of the various Palmellacez, and are further unable to agree
upon what are the essential characters by which to settle these
points, what can be better proof of the intrinsic difficulty of
the whole question? If by one observer the envelope of
mucoid matter be taken as a specific or even generic sign—
if the mode of segmentation be taken by another as of specific
or generic value—if the size of the cell, or the position of the
nucleus, or the mode of diffusion of the endochrome within
the cell, be sufficient in the eyes of another to separate genera—
if, as Mr. Archer contends, the oval shape is another impor-
tant distinction—it seems to me no wonder that the difficulty,
acknowledged by all, has arisen.

If, again, inability after careful research to determine what
is meant by Kiitzing’s character of the genus Palmogleea be
admitted by Mr. Archer and Braun; and if Mr. Archer thinks
that this genus is separable into five types, two of which he
thinks do not at all belong to it; when, in fact, no one
algologist can tell distinctly what is a Palmogleea, so as to be
understood by any other algologist ; then, I must confess, it
seems difficult to understand how Mr. Archer can find suffi-
cient ground to state that a Macrococca is not the state
figured by me as similar to Palmogloea amongst the forms
produced by the lichen-gonidia. Mr. Archer is by no means
certain of what I mean by Palmoglea Brébissonu, for he
questions whether it be the same as that which Kiitzing makes
identical with Palmella cylindrospora, which Ralf considers
identical with Penium Brébissonii, and which Mr. Archer
places with Cylindrocystis; and which, as far as can be
ascertained, Mr. Thwaites calls Coccochloris Brébissonii,
although Mr. Archer thinks he means the Trichodictyon
rupestro. The exact characters of this form, it will thus be
seen, are by no means settled by any one of these observers.
The exceeding confusion prevailing in this species extends
similarly throughout the whole group, and leaves it in such
a state of uncertainty that it would be well if the whole of
these forms were to undergo complete remodelling.

But the question first of all arises, how is a single cell to be
distinguished from another single cell? What reliable charac-
ters are to be fixed upon which can be considered as of generic
value? When we consider through what various forms those
cells pass whose life-history has been carefully watched, as
for example, Protococcus pluvialis, the very species with

HICKS, ON MR. ARCHER’S PAPER ON ALGA. 255

which Mr. Archer illustrated his paper, how are we to tell to
what genus any single cell belongs? how can we tell whether
it be a fixed form, a separate entity, or merely a transitional
form of some other growth? When, again, we find, as I have
shown in this Journal, and in the ‘ Transactions of the Linnean
Society,’ that cells quite similar in all respects are produced
during the segmentation of the gonidia of the lichens, mosses,
Lycopodia, Prasiola, &c., in what manner, may it be asked,
are we to tell to what group it belongs, and how can we say
that it is certainly a separate Palmellaceous plant ?

It is clear that the whole question must be gone over com-
pletely, not with the distinct intent of dividing each of these
forms into genera and species, but for the purpose of tracing
their history as far as practicable, in order to find out through
what various forms they can pass, and more especially to in-
quire how many homomorphous forms can spring from
different structures.

The whole case resolves itself into this heavy task, a subject
which will require the combined efforts of many observers,
and one which I am fully aware will hold out little attraction
for those whose love of distinctness and definiteness draws
them rather to analysis than to synthesis. It is one to which,
if Mr. Archer will apply his patient and careful habits of
observation, he will find it repay his pains far more amply
than endeavouring to unravel the confusion of authors. These
views I have already expressed in the papers above quoted,
and I may repeat that I consider that, till the life-history is
traced out, it is impossible to tell whether the growth before
one be a distinct form or not.

The principal point which must be first determined is,
what are the characters to the differences of which we can
assign a generic or specific value? Is size to be taken as a
guide? The size of any cell depends on many circumstances,
as, for instance, upon the rate of segmentation compared with
individual growth. This is well seen by observing continu-
ously the process of the gonidia of lichens or mosses. The
size depends also upon the temperature and other external
circumstances affecting the activity of its vital powers. There
* is no doubt the subdivision of a cell may extend to almost
an invisible point, and in that state it may so remain for an
indefinite period ; and that it may begin at any time to grow,
till it reach the size of the parent, and probably to a still
larger, provided, however, segmentation does not commence.

Does the position of the nucleus help us? How, then, can
those states be classified in which there is no nucleus? I
think few will consider that the position of the nucleus, of a

256 HICKS, ON MR. ARCHER’S PAPER ON ALG.

starch-granule, or of a vescicle, can be considered of any
assistance whatever.

Can the disposition of the chlorophyll? How, then, are we
to arrange those forms where the whole contents are homo-
geneous? How are we to place those whose contents are
without any definite arrangement? It seems that but little
value can be placed upon this in the majority of cases, to
which any one who has observed the various arrangements of
the contents in the same plant I think will agree. It is
true that in some there are peculiar dispositions, as in
Zygonema and its allies, and, when present, no doubt is of
certain value ; but even in this case the contents may become
homogeneous, as in conjugating; and then, supposing sub-
division to take place, the contents of the resulting cells
would become more or less homogeneous, and thus the spiral
character lost.

Can the mode of subdivision assist us? Before this can
be answered we must find out in how many modes, and in
what varieties of forms, this process can take place. Here
is a vast field. Let us therefore inquire of nature in every
stage of the life of a cell—in its active spring growth,
during and after its period of conjugating, in its zoospore
stage, and in the forms the zoospore may ultimately assume,
in the autumn growth, and in the various stages the winter-
resting spore may pass through before it reach again the
parent form. Let nature be fully inquired of here, and I have
no doubt an ample harvest will be the reward. Can the
form of the cell be of any help? If it is found that the sub-
divisions of a generally round form assume an oval, at any
stage, and then revert to the round shape, what value can
we put uponthe form? That this can be constantly observed
is palpable to any one who will watch the segmenting gonidia
of lichens and other plants. I need only refer again to the
plate illustrating Mr. Archer’s paper. The varying forms
of the divisions show that their form changes very strangely.
This is observable in almost every Converfa, and the Des-
midiz are good examples. Supposing Mr. Archer had carried
his observations as Cohn has done in Protococcus pluvialis,
it is highly probable that as diverse forms would have been
found.

Upon what, then, are we to fix? No other answer seems
practicable but that which I have already indicated, namely,
upon the gradations assumed during its whole life-history.
If it be asked, how can this be attained? it must be honestly
answered, with much labour and careful observation; better
trace one form out well than endeavour to attain an appa-

HICKS, ON MR. ARCHER’S PAPER ON ALG. 257

rently large result by that which cannot be relied upon,
although it may have the attraction of being definite.

In this particular subject especially algologists have
generally endeavoured to restrict nature into the narrowest
compass; they have made orders, genera, and species mnu-
merable, out of the simple physiological process of cell-growth,
and have used even the ordinary variations of subdivision as
a means to classification.

Had a tithe of the labour bestowed upon the classification
of the Palmellacez been devoted to their life-history, some
progress by this time would have been made in the herculean
task.

One point, I think, will tend to shake our confidence in the
certainty of the separate existence of these forms, to which I
have also formerly alluded ; it is this, that when we consider
the multitudes of mosses and lichens to be found everywhere
capable of producing gonidia, and from them Palmellaceous
forms to an indefinite extent, and varying probably according
to the species, what absolute proof can we possibly have of
the separate existence of any similar form unless we know its
history? I am sorry to give utterance toso much scepticism,
and to cause such perturbations in the minds of those devoted
to the subject; but I am certain the sooner misgivings
occur on the validity of the mode hitherto adopted, the sooner
we shall attain a more satisfactory knowledge of what I am
certain will prove to be a wide page in the book of nature.

Mr. Archer has rather misunderstood me in concluding
that I consider all species of British Palmogloea can arise
from the lichen Cladonia. I mean that all forms similar to
those hitherto described can certainly arise from it, but I
do not mean to affirm that no other forms of vegetable life
do not also give origin to similar cells. I have little doubt
but that a more extended knowledge of the matter will show
that segmenting gonidia of other orders will also produce
similar forms, as I have already shown in the mosses. At
the same time I do not mean to say there are no such forms
as distinct Palmellacez. I admit it is possible; but I ask,
how are we to be sure the specimen before us is so? For
this reason I cannot agree with thinking with Mr. Archer
that I have been hasty or comprehensive in my generaliza-
tions.

What value in classifying can be attributed to that peculiar
action called conjugation? I think we can hardly judge at
present. That it is but a process of vegetative, as distinguished
from sexual action, is clear; but whether it is to be considered
as a sign belonging only to the Confervoid group-section, it is

258 E. RAY LANKESTER, ON THE

impossible to say; at any rate, for ought we know to the
contrary, it may be also formed during the growth of the
gonidium of lichens, and it would seem rash at our present
state of information to confine it within any limits. Further
observations are wanting before we can consider it peculiar
to the Conferve.

The same remark may be applied to the zoospores, the
formation of which is also asexual process. We have evidence
which shows that the formation of zoospores extends over
a wider range than had formerly been believed. There,
again, is a fine field here for observation. It is very possible
that some of the Volvocineze may have an origin in some
other form of life, especially since Cohn has shown forms of
zoospores of Protococcus pluvialis, united in such a manner
as to partake of many of the features of that tribe. No
finer field than the one I have above pointed out is open for the
patient observer, who will carefully trace, and as carefully
portray, every step of the form in which he is interested.

The Anatomy of the EartHworm.
By E. Ray Lanxester.

Part I.

Brine desirous of publishing a notice of certain new
points of structure which I have detected in the earthworm,
I thought that it might be well to accompany it with a
description of the general anatomy of that Annelid, espe-
cially since the later and more accurate observations on this
subject have been published as papers in foreign journals,
and are scattered about in various French, Belgian, and
German periodicals. The appearance too, of a paper in the
‘ Philosophical Transactions’ for 1858, by Dr. Williams, in
which the anatomy of the reproductive organs of Lumbricus
is treated of, has been a further inducement to me to publish
my observations on this point. The separate researches
of two Continental naturalists, M. Jules d’Udekem and Dr.
Ewald Hering, had placed our knowledge of the generative
system of the earthworm in a so far satisfactory state that
little more remained to be done than to explain a few minor
. discrepancies between the results arrived at by these authors.
Dr. Williams, however, having failed to observe that which is

ANATOMY OF THE EARTHWORM. 259

recorded by Dr. Hering and M. d’Udekem, asserts that those
authors’ observations are “ confused and contradictory,” and
proceeds to give a description of ovaries and testes, which
he does not confirm by adequate figures, and which, cer-
tainly as far as my observations have gone, do not exist. It
is therefore necessary, in justice to these two continental
observers, to show, if possible, that their observations are not
“confused and contradictory,” but that they (more espe-
cially Dr. Hering) have given, on the whole, a truthful and
accurate account of the reproductive organs of Lumbricus ;
that it is Dr. Williams’s observations which are incorrect, and
that consequently that author’s views as to the modification
of the ciliated tubuli into reproductive organs are, at any
rate, as far as Lumbricus is concerned, untenable.

The frequent use of the microscope, which is necessary in
the elucidation of the anatomy of the Annelida, and without
which no accurate knowledge of their organization can
be arrived at, must be my apology for the publication of
a paper of this nature in the pages of a microscopical
journal.

From the time of Willis* and Redit the structure and
habits of the earthworm have received much attention from
naturalists. Montegre,{ SirEverard Home,§ Dufour, || Dugés,{]
Meckel,** Stein,t+ D’ Udekem,{t{ and Hering,§$$ are amongst
those who have written on the subject, the only author, how-
ever, who professes to deal with it as a whole, and who has
treated of the entire anatomy of the worm, is Morren,|||| the
other writers named having devoted their researches almost
exclusively to the reproductive organs. The work of this author
was published many years since, but is still remarkable
for the amount of labour displayed in it, and the profusion
of engravings. The nervous system has formed the subject
of papers by M. de Quatrefages and Mr. Lockhart Clarke,
to which reference will be made hereafter. I propose to
describe the organization of the earthworm under the following
heads :—Tegumentary system, Muscular system, Digestive

* ‘De Anima Brutorum.’
‘De animalibus vivis que in corporibus animalium vivorum pariuntur.’
i ‘Annales du Museum d’Hist. Nat.,’ 1825.
§ ‘Phil. Trans.,’ 18238, p. J1.
| «Ann. des Sciences Nat.,’ 1825.
q| Ibid. 1828.
** Miiller’s ‘ Archiv,’ 1844.
+} Ibid., 1842.
« ££ ‘Memoires de Acad. Roy. de Bruxelles,’ 1857.
- §§ Siebold and Kolliker, ‘ Zeitschrift,’ 1858.
_ |||] ‘De Lumbrici terrestris Historia naturali necnon anatomia tractatus.’

260 E. RAY LANKESTER, ON THE

system, Circulatory and Respiratory systems, Nervous system,
Secernary system, and Reproductive system. I may here
mention that the majority of my observations have been made
on the Lumbricus terrestris, though I have also dissected many
individuals of L. agricola.

TEGUMENTARY SYSTEM.—The tegumentary and muscular
systems of the earthworm are so intimately united that it is
somewhat difficult to describe the one apart from the other.
If a vertical section be made of a portion of the integument
of Lumbricus, three distinct strata or layers will be dis-
tinguished. The external one is the epidermis, the middle
the pigmentary layer, and the internal the muscular layer.
If a very thin section of this description be made and
placed beneath the microscope, the appearances drawn
in Pl, VII, fig. 12, areseen. The epidermis (e) appears to be
almost structureless and transparent, having, however, a cer-
tain finely granular, striated aspect. The pigmentary layer
(d) contains numerous dark-brown cells, irregularly disposed
in a semi-transparent homogeneous matrix, in which also
ramify very numerous blood-vessels. The disposition of these
capillaries is towards the exterior, the larger branches from
‘which they are derived being situated in and above the
muscular layer. The muscular layer (c), which varies in
size in various parts of the integument, is generally by
far the thickest, composed of minute fibres, crossing and inter-
crossing in various directions, the more superficial ones having
a direction parallel with the longitudimal axis of the body,
whilst the deep-seated fibres run exactly at right angles to
these. Within the muscular {layer a small species of nema-
toid (b) may be frequently detected. They are very abundant
in all parts of the earthworm, but do not appear to do much
harm. I shall have occasion hereafter to refer to this parasite
(the Anguillula Lumbrici of Dujardin) in speaking of the
generative organs, where its existence has given rise to many
errors. A delicate layer of cells is perceptible beyond the
muscular coat (a), which probably belong merely to the cor-
pusculated perivisceral fluid.

The tunic thus formed is constricted into various rings, or
annulated, at short intervals throughout the length of the body,
whichis of a cylindrical tapering form anteriorly, but broad and
flat as the posterior region is approached, terminating at length
very suddenly by a rapid diminution in the size of the annuli.
If a worm be drawn through the hand, from head to tail, no
perceptible impediment to its passage is felt; but if the
reverse operation is tried and the worm be held by the

ANATOMY OF THE EARTHWORM. 261

posterior extremity, a considerable amount of resistance is
experienced, in consequence of a roughness of the worm’s
skin. This roughness is owing to the presence of minute sete,
of which there are four pairs on nearly every ring of the
worm’s body, those only comprised by the cingulum and the
smallest anal segments being free from them. Two pairs of
the sete have a ventral aspect, and a pair on either side are
disposed laterally (fig. 8). One of these setz placed beneath
the microscope shows a slightly curved form, is transparent,
of a yellow colour and fibrous structure (fig. 7). The broader
portion is fixed in the integument, and is softer than the
exposed portion.

The setz are secreted by very minute glands, of which there
are four in every segment, each situated in connection with the
inserted portions of a pair of setze, These setigerous glands
may be seen in fig. 11,4, d. In acertain part of the body the
setigerous glands often acquire a large size, and their normal
function appears to become subservient to some other. Large
semi-developed sete are thus found im them, as also a viscid
secretion, the function of which must be discussed in connec-
tion with the reproductive system. The sete are very fre-
quently lost or injured in use by the earthworm, and their
place left unsupplied. From this we may conclude that the
process of their formation is not rapid, nor adapted to sup-
plying a vacancy immediately on its being required ; but,
rather, a regular and slow development, which takes place
equally, whether injury has been sustained or not, and irre-
spective of wear. Another feature of the integument which
will be noticed by the most casual observer is its enlarge-
ment into the “cingulum,” extending from the twenty-ninth
to the thirty-sixth segment. The cingulum, which, though a
tegumentary appendage, is strictly an accessory organ of re-
production, is of a paler colour than the rest of the integu-
ment, encloses the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the rings
over which it extends, but is not developed from the ventral
surface. The structure of this body is glandular, being com-
posed of a great number of minute pyriform papille, which
secrete a fluid, and also act as adhesive organs during the
congress of two individuals. The epidermis covering the
papille is remarkably thin, and appears to be ruptured when
coition occurs. In examining the ventral surface of the
worm various minute apertures will be discovered in the
anterior segments of the body; but as they are intimately
connected with certain of the organs of reproduction, I defer
describing them for the present. ;

262 E. RAY LANKESTER, ON THE

MuscutarR systeM.—The various modifications of the
muscular layer of the integument constitute the principal
part of the muscular system in the earthworm. There are but
few special developments of muscular tissue in such organisms
at all; the various functions which are entailed on ” special
muscles in higher animals being here performed by a simple
contractile tunic or membrane. The muscular coat succeeding
the pigmentary layer of the integument (the cutis being
inseparable, and not easily distinguished from those struc-
tures) consist of fibres which run. transversely to the longi-
tudinal axis of the body, and by their contractions cause the
rings to diminish their diameter ; the succeeding layer to
this is formed of intercrossing and oblique fibres, whilst the
innermost fibres are arranged longitudinally. These last
are by far the most numerous, and are largely developed on
the ventral surface. They form the straight muscles of
Morren. ‘Two lateral muscles, a ventral, and a dorsal, may
be distinguished (fig. 11). The setigerous glands occupy
a position between the dorsal and lateral and the lateral and
ventral muscles on either side. Morren has carefully de-
scribed an arrangement of minute muscular fibres in connec-
tion with the setz, which he considers as the protractors and
retractors of these appendages. Cuvier has also described
these.

The object of the muscular attachment appears to be
to keep the seta in position rather than to withdraw or
extend it, so that the hooklet may yield to pressure from the
quarter towards which the worm is progressing, but offer
resistance to similar force in the opposite direction. The
remaining muscles of the earthworm are the transverse or
intraseptal muscles, or modifications of these. Between
every segment or ring a very delicate, tenacious, pellucid,
muscular membrane exists, loosely connected with the
internal viscera, but firmly attached to the walls of the
body. These transverse muscles do not entirely close the
various rings from each other, but allow the contents of
the perivisceral cavity free movement from one end of the
body to the other. The fibres of the transverse muscles are
very fine, and take a direction from the walls of the
splanchnic cavity towards the central viscera. In the first
eight or nine rings of the body oblique radiating muscular
fibres diverge from the transverse muscles, and become
attached to the muscular pharynx to be described hereafter.
A somewhat similar arrangement occurs in the terminal
rings of the body, where these radiating fibres assist in the
expulsion of the feeces from the anal aperture.

ANATOMY OF THE EARTHWORM. 263

DicEstive system.—Before proceeding any further in the
description of the anatomy of the earthworm, it is necessary
to explain the method which has been adopted in dissecting.
The best way of killing the worm, which should be of as
large a size as can be obtained, is with chloroform, though
spirits of wine can be made to answer the same purpose.
The advantage of chloroform is that it leaves the subject lax
and pliable, whereas in spirits of wine rigidity often occurs,
which renders careful dissection impossible. A pin being
inserted in the first or labial segment, and the worm pinned
firmly in a gutta-percha trough, the dissection may be
commenced by a dorsal, lateral, or ventral incision, which
should extend from the first to the thirtieth segment. This
being done, the cut edges must be separated and pinned out,
as much longitudinal tension being used as possible. The
organs of the body will then present a very beautiful sight.
Many, though, are concealed because of their transparency,
and great difficulty will be found in manipulating certain
organs on account of their tenuity aud the fluid nature of
their contents. These difficulties will be entirely obviated by
filling the trough with pure spirits of wine.* A most marvel-
lous change then comes over the appearance of the extended
annelid ; numerous little fibres display themselves, running
from the pharynx to the transverse muscles, which also
bece:ne more evident; the ciliated tubules in each segment
make their appearance, and, what is most important, the
reproductive organs become so hardened as to admit of
careful dissection. I cannot but attribute some of the
errors which have been made by the older and certain recent
observers to the want of some such method of dissection as
this. Fig 5 represents a worm opened by a dorsal incision,
and treated in this way.

Mouth.—The mouth in the earthworm is formed by the
incomplete structure of the first segment of the body (fig 9).
The incomplete ring is a conical or nipple-shaped projection,
of a very fleshy, muscular nature, forming what may well be
called an upper lip. The mucous membrane of the mouth is
reflected inwards, and lines a large oral cavity, considered as
the pharynx (fig. 5, 6, fig. 6). The mouth forms the subject
of several figures and a good deal of letter-press in Morren’s
memoir; but it appears to be a very simply formed orifice,

* Mr. George Busk, who has for many years made the earthworm a
favorite study, and who very kindly assisted me when first commencing its
dissection, was, I believe, the first to use chloroform and spirits of wine in
this way; [ regret very much not having had the benefit of his advice in
preparing this paper.

VOL. IVY.—NEW SER. ph

264: E. RAY LANKESTER, ON THE

the movements of the labial segment, which can be retracted
so as to close the oral aperture, being dependent on muscles
similar to those existing in each segment of the body, and
already described.

The pharyne is a broad somewhat flattened and very
muscular organ, immediately succeeding the oral aperture ;
it extends from the second to the seventh ring of the body.
The upper surface, exposed when a dorsal incision is made, is
very muscular, numerous radiating digital fibres connecting
it with the transverse septal muscles; its lateral attachments
appear to be the strongest, though numerous radiating fibres
may be also detected on the ventral surface of the organ.
The outer thick and muscular coat, which thus gives to the
pharynx its principal muscular power, is of a yellowish-white
colour, and very vascular. If this be opened and carefully
examined it will be found to project anteriorly into the
hollow cavity which it forms, and gives rise to a sort of disc
or sucker by the action of which, no doubt, the earthy food of
the worm is drawn into the mouth. A second, much finer
muscular coat will also be found underlying this denser one,
and intimately connected with the loose folds of mucous
membrane which line the pharyngeal cavity. In fig. 3 a
small bundle of muscular fibres from the pharynx is drawn ;
they present the same simple structure and appearance as
the muscular tissue from all parts of the body.

Salivary glands.—Opening into the mouth and pharyngeal
cavity are three pairs of glands, which must be considered as
salivary organs. Morren appears to have figured these, and
Mr. Lockhart Clarke briefly mentions their existence. They
are in the form of convoluted tubules, situated near the oral
aperture in connection with the dense exterior coat of the
pharynx, and require a little examination to be detected.

Passing down the alimentary canal, we come to the @so-
phagus. This commences in the eighth segment of the body,
(fig. 5, ce, fig. 6), and is directly continuous with the muscular
pharynx. The latter organ contracts very considerably in
the seventh ring, and then is followed by this narrow, delicate,
but highly elastic tube. The cesophagus extends to the
fifteenth or sixteenth ring; throughout it is composed of a more
or less delicate muscular coat and an inner mucous lining.
In its passage through the septal muscles it becomes slightly
constricted, and the fibres of the one organ appear to become
interwoven with those of the other ; this is more particularly
the case in the eighth, ninth, and tenth rings. The large
dorsal vessel which runs all along the alimentary canal
attains its greatest development in the region of the cso-

ANATOMY OF THE EARTHWORM. 265

phagus ; it passes directly along the median line of the body,
in close connection with the digestive tube, and, with its
contractions and dilatations, the cesophagus also performs
certain peristaltic movements, the object of which may be
connected with the circulatory system. The large lateral
vessels, described as hearts, are given off from the dorsal
vessel in the region of the cesophagus, and the reproductive
organs closely surround it; we have therefore in this region
the most vascular and active part of the body. Although the
cesophagus itself consists merely of a muscular and a mucous
membrane, possessing no special secernary powers, yet the
dorsal blood-vessel, throughout its connection with the
cesophagus, is more or less invested with a yellowish-brown
mass of cellular matter, which sometimes extends to the
lateral vessels and hides the true walls of the blood-vessels
from view. If a portion of this yellow mass be placed under
the microscope with a high power, it will be found to consist
of minute cells, the contents of which are still finer granular
particles (fig. 13). They exactly resemble the cells which,
in connection with the blood-vessels, invest the whole of
the intestine, yet to be described, and which have always
been considered as performing a secernary function similar
to that of the liver. This yellow mass may therefore be re-
garded as an organ of secretion in connection with the
cesophagus, of similar nature to the hepatic membrane of the
intestine.

(sophageal glands.—Situated in the twelfth and thirteenth
rings, and nearly or entirely concealed by the testicular
masses, are three pairs of very remarkable glands, which
have never yet been described. In fig. 5 the reproductive
organs have been turned back, so as to expose these (#). The
dorsal blood-vessel is in close connection with them, and
two of the great lateral vessels lie in contact with their
surfaces. Morren, indeed, in pl. xxxi of his memoir,
gives a rough figure of two of these glands, but does not
add any accurate description of them. Dr. Williams, in
his paper in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions,’ describes a
figure in his pl. vi as the reproductive organs of the
earthworm, and denominates a certain mulberry-like mass
“calciferous glands.” No description of these glands is
given in his memoir, and the figure is so utterly unlike
anything existing in the earthworm that I cannot say
whether the esophageal glands are meant, although no other
calciferous bodies are to be met with in Lumbricus. In
fig. 4 the three pairs of cesophageal glands and part of the
cesophagus are seen remoyed from the attached blood-

266 E. RAY LANKESTER, ON THE

vessels and septal muscles, considerably enlarged. The
most anterior pair, which exists in the twelfth ring, are
somewhat round and full, pale in colour, and with an im-
mensely vascular surface, the vessels running parallel to
one another, and frequently so numerous as to give the
organs a bright-red colour. They are firmly attached to the
walls of the cesophagus, but do not appear to have any com-
munication with its interior. When opened they are found
to contain either a single hard crystalline mass or numerous
smaller bodies of a similar appearance, when placed under
the microscope, to that drawn in fig. 10. The wall of the
pate of pouches is thin, and the presence of the hard bodies
heueath can be detected by simply pressing the glands.
When a porticn of the crystalline substance is treated with
nectic acid, it dissolves with great effervescence. It is there-
fore probable that the substance is carbonate of lime.
These glands do not always contain crystalline bodies, and
occasionally a worm is found in which all three pairs of
esophageal appendages have lost their vascularity and size.
I am not able to give any clue as to the function of this first
pair of glands; it may be connected with the formation of
the egg-capsule, which is said to contain carbonate of lime;
on the other hand, it may be a provision for disposing of any
superabundance of mineral matter in the blood. I have
frequently found the crystalline bodies passed into the
cesophagus and lodged in the capacious crop. The second
and third pairs of cesophageal glands are situated in the
thirteenth ring, and have a form and appearance differing
from the first. They are a little smaller, and their walls are
much thicker, but no less vascular, than the first pair. They
contain a milky fluid, which, when examined with the micro-
scope, is found to consist of very minute granules, somewhat
similar to those of the hepatic membrane of the intestine.
A very thin section, made vertically through one of these
glands, shows the structure drawn in fig. 2, an inner epithelial
coat, a vascular region in which the blood-vessels are arranged
in loops as seen in the figure, and an outer more delicate
membrane, forming the sheath of the organ on which the
externally visible vessels extend; these, as in the anterior
pair of glands, are very numerous, and run parallel to one
another.

The arrangement of the vessels interiorly in loops is very
remarkable, and may be easily observed when the vessels are
naturally injected. All three pairs of glands present this
structure. The use of the milky secretion contained in the
second and third pairs may be in the process of digestion ;

ANATOMY OF THE EARTHWORM. 267

indeed, this appears most probable, but the properties of the
secretion cannot be determined. That these three pairs of
glands are of very vast importance in the economy of the
worm cannot be doubted, when their proximity to, and con-
nection with, the great vessels of the body is considered,
and it is somewhat surprising that they should have escaped
the notice of previous observers.

Crop or stomach.—Leaving the cesophageal glands, we may
follow the course of the alimentary canal, closely adhered to
by the dorsal vessel and its surrounding granular mass, to the
sixteenth or seventeenth ring. Here the cesophagus termi-
nates, and the digestive tube expands into a voluminous heart-
shaped sac, which may be regarded as a species of stomach.
Sometimes this organ commences in the fifteenth ring of the
body, and at other times it occupies only the sixteenth seg-
ment; this appears to be a matter of indifference, depending
merely on the growth of the septal muscles. The muscular
wall is here well developed, and the continual contractions,
which it performs even after the worm is pinned out for
observation, show that one of the principal functions it per-
forms is the propelling of food on its course through the
alimentary canal. Very numerous blood-vessels are distri-
buted to its surface, whilst the interior is lined by a loose,
largely developed mucous membrane.

Gizzard.—The eighteenth and nineteenth rings of the
body are occupied by a hard cartilaginous-looking ring, which
is attached to the muscular sac just described. Its walls are
very thick, and composed of fibrous tissue much resembling
the muscular fibre, but they do not appear to be contractile.
The blood-vessels, which are very freely distributed to the
surface, are disposed in a transverse direction, and are very
minute. This organ has been called the gizzard by previous
writers, though whether its functions are those of a gizzard
does not appear at all certain.

Intestine—Immediately attached to the remarkable fibrous
ring just described is the intestine, which passes throughout
the rest of the body with very little change in its structure.
It is a loosely and much plicated tube, with very delicate
elastic walls, which are so disposed as to occupy a small space
whilst possessing a large amount of surface. The wall is
composed of three distinct coats, of which the interior one is
mucous membrane, with a finely ciliated epithelium; the
middle, delicate muscular tissue ; and the exterior, a mass of
yellow cells, forming an olive-brown-coloured investment for
the whole intestine, which is of the most tender nature, and
very easily ruptured. The cells, possessing granular contents,

268 E. RAY LANKESTER, ON THE EARTHWORM.

are exactly similar to those found in the yellow tissue sur-
rounding the dorsal blood-vessel by the cesophagus, and
they appear to perform the same offices. It is almost uni-
versally admitted that this yellow tunic of the intestine
should be considered as discharging the functions which are
distributed to various organs in the higher animals, viz.,
those of the gall-bladder, the pancreas, and the gastric glands.
And it may therefore be conveniently called the hepatic
membrane.

The very numerous blood-vessels which ramify in this
portion of the digestive tube, and around which the develop-
ment of the hepatic cells is greatest, is connected, of course,
with the elimimation of nutriment from the contents, and it
is probably in this part of the viscera that the chief amount
of absorption takes place.

The muscular coat of the intestine is very delicate, but
exercises considerable force in the propulsion of food. The
transverse septal muscles, which are intimately connected
with the folds of the intestine, also assist in causing those
movements of the digestive cavity by which the passage. of
aliment is effected.

Anus.—After passing through three hundred and fifty
rings in a well-grown worm, or less, the alimentary canal
terminates in the last segment of the body. The modifica-
tions of the septal muscles, which by Morren were described
as peculiar muscles of the anus, and the contractility of the
muscular membranes of the intestine and of the integument,
effect the discharge of the feeces. The ciliated epithelium of
the mucous membrane may be best observed near the anal
aperture, where it appears to have its greatest development.

Recapitulation.—The digestive organs of the earthworm con-
sist of a mouth, situated in the first anterior segment of the
body ; of an oval muscular pharynx, extending to the eighth
segment; of a narrow contractile cesophagus, expanding in
the fifteenth or sixteenth ring into a muscular crop, followed
by a hard fibrous ring occupying the seventeenth and
eighteenth segments. The rest of the body is traversed by
the intestine, a plicated, delicate, elastic tube, invested in a
membrane of granular cells, and terminating in the last rmg
of the body. Connected with the pharynx are three convo-
luted bedies, considered as salivary organs, and attached to
the cesophagus are three pairs of glands in the twelfth and
thirteenth segments, the two posterior pairs of which secrete
a milky fluid, probably to assist iligetion

The food of the worm is such fegetable matter as is con-
tained in the rich loamy soils which it selects for habitation.

(Zo be continued.)

269

Nores on OrGANic SrRucTURE as ILLUSTRATED by means of
Dyes. By Watrer Assry, M.R.C.S.

Turis Journal has of late presented to its readers a remark-
able series of papers by Dr. Lionel Beale, embodying the
results obtained from the investigation of organic structures
into a doctrine that is likely to give the coup de grace to the
already staggering cell-theory of Schwann.

Dr. Beale, having conceived the happy idea of staining the
tissues with carmine, found that a permanent stain was
acquired by certain portions only of the tissue, including all
those which are generally supposed not to have reached their
ultimate grade of development, and excluding those which
have evidently undergone a structural process.

This new and conspicuous fact suggested the division of
all organized matter into the two easily determined sections
of “germinal matter” and “formed matter,” the former
being dyed, the latter unaffected, by carmine. The “ germinal
matter”? is well represented by the nucleus and nucleolus ;
the “formed matter,” by the cell-wall and spiral fibre.

Dr. Beale also inferred, from the presence of gradated
colour in the stained “germinal matter,” that it lost its pro-
clivity for the dye in the course of its gradual transition into
the ‘‘ formed matter.”

It is very obvious that this selective staining power of
carmine is of great value to the physiologist, and that still
further advantage would be derived from the possession of
one or more dyes capable of staining the whole or part of
that which is not coloured by the carmine; also, that the one
colour ought sufficiently to contrast with the other.

Iodine has long and deservedly been in use and repute ;
but, apart from its value as a test for starch and cellulose, it
does not avail much as a dye, the cell and the cell-contents
usually differing only in the intensity of the uniform and
fugitive brownish-yellow conferred upon them.

Substances largely possessed of the desired properties are,
however, easy to obtain, and easy to use. They are most
abundant among the compounds of aniline.

Magenta, one of the most brilliant of these, has already
been used by the microscopist, but its distinctive qualities
seem to have escaped suspicion. This dye, like most of its
congeners, has selective staining power as great as that of
carmine, and still more limited, Altogether unattracted by

270 ABBEY, ON ORGANIC STRUCTURE.

pure cellulose, it at once seizes those portions of “formed
matter’ which come under the head of “ secondary layers.”

A dye for the structures left uncoloured both by magenta
and carmine is still a desideratum.

Although a second characteristic colouring agent thus
presented itself to me, it did not give a satisfactory contrast of
colour. Mauve, Hoffmann’s violet, aniline brown, picrate of
aniline, and turmeric, all dye as magenta, but the purples
alone approximated to the desired contrast. Aniline green,
which I subsequently tried, accorded with these, but its results
hitherto have been capricious and unsatisfactory. It seemed
probable that a substitute for magenta, if found at all, would be
found among the aniline colours, and I became indebted to my
friends Mr. J. G. Dale, F.C.S., and Dr. Martius, who have
all along most liberally furnished me with dyes not otherwise
readily obtained—for two blue salts ; the one almost identical
with magenta, the other belonging to a different though
closely allied series of compounds.

I naturally looked to the former, the ordinary aniline blue
of commerce, for the accomplishment of the sought-for con-
trast, but it proved a lamentable yet instructive failure. The
tissue, plunged into its alcoholic solution, came out magnifi-
cently coloured, and remained so when immersed either in
water or glycerine. Under the microscope, however, the
colour was seen to be merely mechanically and impartially
distributed ; and, by the action of alcohol, its proper solvent,
it was entirely discharged. This surprise was outrivalled by
the one which the second blue afforded. The desired con-
trast was now effected, but at the expense of the carmine,
instead of the magenta. Nothing could be more satisfactory
than this result, inasmuch as the blue substitute for carmine
has intense and splendid colouring power, and is even more
brilliant by artificial ight than by daylight. It is also freely
soluble in water, thus incidentally refuting Dr. Beale’s
somewhat rash explanation of the limited dyeing power of
carmine, which he refers to the acid reaction of the ‘‘ germinal
matter” on the alkaline solution of the dye. I feel justified
in calling this assumption ‘rash,’ because Dr. Beale had
probably employed no other than an alkaline solution; car-
mine being only soluble in ammonia, or in a neutral solution
of oxalate of ammonia, the solvent power of which is not
generally known. Moreover, such an explanation should be
based on the reaction, not of the solvent, but of the carmine,
which, in a good sample, would most likely be acid, owing
to the presence of free carminic acid.

ABBEY, ON ORGANIC STRUCTURE. 271

The “formed matter” is equally affected by acid, alkaline,
and neutral solutions of the dyeing agent.

Having thus drawn attention to the merits of the blue dye,
I shall henceforth, in order to avoid risk of confusion, speak
only of carmine and magenta.

Since magenta is incapable of dyeing either cellulose or
*verminal matter,’ unless with the aid of mordants, but has
a special affinity for the secondary layers, such as those con-
stituting spiral fibre and woody tissue, it is evident that the
components of the typical cell may be made to present three
conditions of colour, viz., enumerating from without inwards,
(1) unstained—cell-wall; (2) stained with magenta—spiral
fibre; (3) stained with carmme—“ germinal matter.” It is
also seen that the generally accepted statement, to the effect
that the secondary layers consist of cellulose, as does the
cell-wall, requires, to say the least, considerable modification.
It is, perhaps, strange that this statement should have passed
with so little question, seeing that, as a rule, the cellulose
reaction with sulphuric acid and iodine is confessedly only
to be obtained from such structures by means of a “ pre-
liminary treatment,’ such as boiling with nitric acid or
caustic potash. Surely this is much akin to saying that the
reactions of sulphate of copper can only be procured from
metallic copper by means of a “preliminary” treatment
with sulphuric acid. If, by an extravagant figure of speech,
sulphate of copper may be said to be a mode of the metal,
then perhaps the secondary layer may be said to be a mode
of cellulose.

Before proceeding further, I ought to premise that this
article should be looked upon as based on phenomena
observed in the vegetable kingdom, my very incomplete
researches having only reached so far over the frontier as to
attain the probability of the universality of the deductions
resulting from them. It will, of course, be borne in mind
that, in the animal kingdom, similar investigations have been
much more fully carried out by Dr. Beale.

Placing our matter before us in the form of the ideal cell
already spoken of, it will be proper to leave the consideration
of the secondary layer until we have worked up to it from
the fons el origo, which, so far as we are concerned, is the
“‘ germinal matter.”

With all diffidence, I venture to suggest that the term
“primordial utricle” should be discontinued. Its meaning
has evidently become so capricious as to render it perhaps
worse than useless as the sign of a precise idea. I am not

272 ABBEY, ON ORGANIC STRUCTURE.

prepared to accept the equivalent offered by Dr. Beale,
inasmuch as I believe that his “germinal matter” consists,
not of one substance only, dyed by carmine, but of two—the
one of which is dyed and the other is not. While agreeing
with him that the nuclear mass of stained “germinal matter”
is shaded off from that darkest pomt which represents the
nucleolus, I am convinced that this shading consists of
stippling, and not of tinting. Nor is this distinction so
frivolous as it may seem at first sight. It is opposed to two
of Dr. Beale’s conclusions—first, that the gradation of
colour is due to the gradual transition of “‘ germinal matter ”’
into “formed matter; secondly, to use his own words,
« As it is a fact that the colouring matter passes through all
the outer layers, and is deposited in the greatest quantity in
that central part which is at the greatest distance from the
solution, it seems only reasonable to infer that pabulum
takes the same course during life.”

It is not a light matter to differ, even as to minor facts,
from so experienced a microscopist and acute a physiologist ;
nevertheless, I must give precedence to the evidence of my
own eyes, aided by good and sufficient object-glasses. My
own conclusions, as differing from those of Dr. Beale, may
be thus summed up:

1. The germinal matter, so called, consists of two parts—
the one dyed by carmine, the other not so.

2. It is not possible to demonstrate by means of dyeing
agents the gradual transition of living matter into dead
matter.

3. The varying tints of the dyed nucleus are due to the
greater or less dispersion of coloured molecules through the
uncoloured substance; their close aggregation forming the
nucleolus.

4. The uncoloured portion of the “ germinal matter ”
the product of the coloured portion.

5. Nutrition is least active in the most deeply coloured
part of the “ germinal matter.”

After this declaration of belief we must, for the remainder
of the paper, take leave of the phrase “ germinal matter,”
its original definition conveying a meaning different to that
which the actual substance seems to me to warrant. I
propose to substitute the term ‘ nuclear matter,’ consisting
of ‘ germinal molecules’ and ‘ germinal plasma.’

The nucleus proper is formed by the carmine-stained

“germinal molecules” dispersed through the mass of un-
stained germinal plasma, which they have produced. The
nucleus may or may not contain the nucleolus, composed of

ABBEY, ON ORGANIC STRUCTURE. 273

germinal molecules whose functional powers are in abeyance,
and which, therefore, are closely aggregated into a deeply
coloured mass, which seems capable of forming a circum-
ferential deposit or areola of plasma, whose quantity is
proportionate to the size and age of this composite molecule.

Here, then, we have the condensed nucleolus active only at
its outer surface, and surrounded by the colourless plasma
resulting from that activity; this, again, having a granular
envelope, composed of similar plasma, and strewed with what
are, in fact, fragmentary nucleoli.

As the outlying molecules become insufficient, demands
for reinforeement are made upon the nucleolus, and this
demand is answered in various ways. Frequently, successive
molecules seem to be detached from the surface of the
nucleolus, becoming more and more widely separated from
each other as the produced plasma increases. Sometimes
the whole mass of the nucleolus is at once called into action,
and thus arises the phenomenon of a new granular nucleus
contained within the original and paler one.

At other times, the nucleolus having divided, the one
part remains in statu quo; while the other, sphered in its
share of the plasma, goes off to form a new nucleus,
nucleolated or otherwise.

Other varieties of fission might be referred to, but it does
not seem necessary to do so in this place.

The vital processes of the unimpregnated animal ovum
correspond very closely with those exhibited by the nuclear
matter of the vegetable-cell.

A good general illustration of my proposition is shown
by that pretty little organism Volvow globator, which may
very well be looked upon as a sort of glorified mass of
nuclear matter. It will be remembered that it consists of
a hollow hyaline globe, studded at regular intervals with
little green masses of endochrome. This represents the
nucleus. Contained within the globe is a variable number
of solid masses of endochrome, each with a viscid transparent
envelope. These represent the nucleoli. When the time
comes for one of these latter to assume independent activity,
it divides and subdivides within its envelope or areola up to
a certain point, without undergoing other change. Lach of
the resulting globules—with the exception of a portion
which, like some part of the yolk of certain eggs, has escaped
segmentation—secretes around itself the ‘germinal plasma,’
until the globe of the Volvox, with its contained nucleoli, is
reproduced; the plasma-envelope of the original nucleolus
now forming the containing sac of the whole organism.

274 ABBEY, ON ORGANIC STRUCTURE,

If my interpretation of microscopical appearances is correct,
it seems impossible to avoid the conclusion, that the deep and
uniform colour of the nucleolus is so far from indicating the
maximum of nutritional activity, that it is actually the sign
of its minimum, if not, indeed, of its absence.

As I have illustrated the nucleus, with its nucleolus, by
reference to a higher grade of life, so may I illustrate the
individual nucleolus.

We find its analogue in the resting spores of alge, with
their dark, condensed mass of inactive endochrome contained in
a self-secreted coat; also in one of the older cells of a Conferva
(Cladophora glomerata), whose crowded contents become ever
paler and less dense with the progress of renewed growth.

The phenomena of cell-growth are so conveniently epito-
mised in the short career of the annual stems of herbaceous
plants, that we may advantageously take a transverse section
of such a stem for the purposes of illustration.

Such a section, by-the-bye, dyed with magenta and blue
or with orange and blue, and viewed with a l-inch objective
and C Kelner eye-piece, is, from its intrinsic beauty, a striking
object for the unphysiological eye.

The common dock (Rumex) sufficiently serves the purpose.
In the cambium-layer, where growth is actively progressing,
we observe that the young cells, as yet very small, are quite
full of darkly stamed nuclear matter, usually, if not always,
in the form of a hollow nucleolated nucleus.

In the older tissue, as represented by the central paren-
chyma, we find, if the plant be young, that the nuclei are
very distinct, the germinal molecules being so thickly grouped
as to need the use of a +!” object-glass for their satisfactory
optical separation. The seemingly homogeneous nucleolus
has, in this case, little or no areola. In the corresponding
parenchyma of an older plant the nuclei are often more
numerous ; they are absolutely larger, but smaller in pro-
portion to the containing-cell; the germinal molecules are
distinctly isolated, and there is a very apparent areola round
the nucleolus.

Not unfrequently may be noticed a series of three nuclei
with their nucleoli, each smaller and more deeply coloured
than its predecessor, the presumptive common parent being
but the ghost of its former self. Many nuclei have two
areolated nucleoli. Here and there may be seen, clinging, as
it were, to the nucleus, a smaller mass, consisting solely of
large molecules separated by plasma, which seems to be the
result of fission of the nucleolus, followed by assumption of

ABBEY, ON ORGANIC STRUCTURE. 275

vital energy by all the component molecules of the liberated
portion.

In the tissue of a fast-growing plant, destined to die as
soon as it has arrived at maturity, and which is already far
advanced—as in the case of a cereal whose ear has now burst
from the sheath—is seen a somewhat different and very
instructive condition. Within the limits of a very large
nucleus, so blanched and undefined as to be hardly visible, is
conspicuous the quondam nucleolus taking upon itself the
dignity of a nucleus; occasionally presenting zones of colour
paling from within outwards, as the result of want of
synchronism in development; and only rarely possessing, by
way of nucleolus, one, two, or more granules, somewhat larger
than their compeers, and therefore invested with a tolerably
distinct areola, yet scarcely deserving a special title.

From these appearances I conclude that the germinal
plasma is produced from the germinal molecules, as they are
successively brought into action to supply the exigencies of the
tissue. This plasma, though vitiating Dr. Beale’s definition
of ‘germinal matter” as distinct from “ formed matter,”
cannot be classed under the latter head, inasmuch as it is
undoubtedly endowed with vital powers. On this matter,
however, I must not now expatiate, but proceed to those more
nearly akin to the professed subject of this paper.

In most of the cells of the dyed and mounted section that
we have been considering we see that the nuclei are enveloped
by the loose folds of a transparent colourless pellicle, manifestly
detached from close apposition to the cell-wall, and more
or less flecked with coloured germinal molecules. This would
seem to consist of the skirting portion of the nuclear matter
in a condensed condition, answering to the coating (ectosarc)
of a Rhizopod. Very apparent in the younger cells, it is
seldom, if ever, seen in those that have exhausted their
nutritive capacity. In no case does it receive colour.

External to this, and, normally, in contact with it, are the
‘secondary layers,” constituting spiral cells and spiral ves-
sels ; ducts of all kinds, whether spiral, annular, scalariform
or dotted; liber, laticiferous, woody, and epidermal tissue.
None of these are stained by carmine; most of them are
stained by magenta. Their susceptibility to the influence of
the dye is the more valuable because it varies with their
age, and thus enables us to decide their relative priority of
formation.

If the transverse section of Rumew be taken from a plant
sufficiently young, we find that all its parts are, as it were,

276 ABBEY, ON ORGANIC STRUCTURE.

gorged with nuclear matter, and that the fibro-vascular bundles
seem perfectly formed, but that the spiral vessels are the only
parts somuch as tinged by the magenta. This accords with
the fact, familiar to botanists, that these vesssels are the fore-
runners of the “ bundles.”

If, on the other hand, we take a second year’s shoot from
some shrub, we see that the new deposit of woody tissue is
much more intensely coloured than that of the preceding
year. Returning to our Rumez, and taking a slice from an
older stem, we observe that the cells of the medullary rays
and of the peripheral portion of the central parenchyma have
become thickened by woody deposits, and that these latest
productions are more deeply magenta-stained than the pre-
viously lignified pleurenchyma of the fibro-vascular bundles.

This useful peculiarity of behaviour may readily induce
error on the part of a careless observer. To illustrate this, I
must for the moment digress into the animal kingdom. If
a section of bone-cartilage be dyed with magenta alone, it
will present the “ cartilage-corpuscles” (nuclear matter) as
bright pink upon a very much paler ground. Reference to a
similar section dyed with magenta and the aniline-blue sub-
stitute for carmine will explain the apparent inconsistency,
by showing that the nuclear matter is enclosed in a film of
recent ‘‘ formed matter,” which takes a deeper stain from the
magenta.

Useful indications might probably be derived from the fact
that the magenta is often more or less deoxidized by the
tissues which it dyes, becoming more purple. The liber
seems to be exempted from this action, and to be always pinker
and less deeply coloured than the spiral fibre or the woody
tissue. There is a peculiar form of cell-thickening, corre--
sponding, perhaps, to the variety of liber stated by Mohl to_
consist of cellulose, which, during some part of its existence,
at least, takes no colour. I am not, however, able to give
its history.

Some one—I forget who—has proposed the contents of a
rhubarb-tart as a ready means for obtaining spiral vessels.
If these, thus obtained, be dyed with magenta and carmine,
well washed, and mounted in balsam, the microscopist will
find himself in possession of a preparation that is both
instructive and beautiful. The fully formed vessels will be
found to vary as to the degree of juxtaposition of the
successive coils of fibre. In some the spiral will suddenly
break up into rings, or divide to form a second spiral winding
in the same direction; but in all these a cell-wall of the
most limpid transparency encloses a crimson spiral, and

ABBEY, ON ORGANIC STRUCTURE. 277

nothing more. But other vessels will be seen, where the
spiral fibre is but faintly mapped out; and these contain
nuclear matter—the scaffolding of the unfinished structure.
This is also seen, though not to such advantage, in the
transverse section. Does not this suggest a compromise
between opposing opinions as to the function of the spiral
vessels? It is evident that they cannot convey air when
young and filled with nuclear matter; but this objection
disappears with age.

If I might venture to suggest yet another hypothesis, it
would be, bearing in mind the early appearance of the spiral
fibre, that it serves the simple mechanical purpose of giving
that elasticity to the whole structure, which must necessarily
be given in some way or other.

In the ‘ Micrographic Dictionary’ we are told, apropos of
the epidermis of plants, that “ the walls of the cells next the
external surface are found much thicker than the rest,
this thickening extending more or less down over the con-
tiguous side walls. When such sections are treated with
sulphuric acid and iodine, the greater part of the thickness,
from without inward, of this outer wall is stained yellow,
while the rest of the walls assume the blue colour ordinarily
taken by cellulose with these reagents.”

Magenta gives a beautiful and instructive variation of
this experiment, dyeing only that part which iodine colours
yellow. Probably this state of things is not so universal as
inferred by the ‘Micrographic Dictionary,’ for, in some
plants, e.g. asparagus, the epidermal cells are altogether
uncoloured, while the superjacent cuticle is deeply stained.
These facts have an important bearmg on the cellulose
question, on which I would fain have touched, but must for
the present forbear.

Before coming to the final full-stop, some notice seems to
be demanded by a paper by Mr. Walter Crum, which
appeared in the ‘ Chemical Society’s Journal’ for 1863, and is
entitled “On the manner in which Cotton unites with
Colouring Matter.” This only byaccident; for,since the paper
is principally concerned with the actions of mordants, it would
hardly have been available in this place, were it not that one
of the substances quoted as a mordant is, as it seems to me,
no mordant at all. The dye principally spoken of in Mr.
Crum’s elaborate and carefully illustrated essay is madder,
and the so-called mordant in question is the mono-muriate
of alumina. My own experiments have shown me that the
colouring principle of madder has the same powers as carmine ;
that is to say, it is capable, without the aid of mordants, of

278 ABBEY, ON ORGANIC STRUCTURE.

dyeing the nuclear matter. Now, Mr. Crum’s figures show
the youngest fibres of cotton—in which the nuclear matter is
most abundant—wholly undyed as regards the cell-wall, but
with a beautifully coloured mass in the interior. This
coloured substance very naturally puzzled Mr. Crum, who
looked upon it as a mere precipitate of colouring matter, and
he says, with reference to its shrinking, ‘It is remarkable
that the alumina should adhere so slightly to the membrane
which contains it, as thus to shift without difficulty from one
part of it to another in the act of shrinking.”

The fact is that the colour wholly depended on the presence
of the nuclear matter, and that the mono-muriate of alumina
was simply thrown away.

Wrong conclusions will certainly be drawn from the ex-
amination of preparations dyed with magenta unless they be
washed until every trace of soluble colour is removed; and
this should be done with alcohol. In the unwashed prepara-
tion the nuclear matter is seen deeply coloured by the
magenta. This operation should be followed by immersion
in glycerine, which will remove any lingering trace of
unattached colour, and which is also the best preservative
fluid. If several vegetable sections of different kinds are
steeped in the same colour-bath, care must be taken that
none of them contain tannin, the mordanting power of which
would altogether disguise the proper differentiating appear-
ances conferred by the dye.

I have omitted to remark, in the proper place, that
secondary products, such as starch, are not coloured either
by carmine or magenta.

TRANSLATION.

On the Deve.ormen’ of the Eaes of FLoscuLaris ORNATA, Ehr.
By Dr. J. F. Wetssz, of St. Petersburg.

(‘ Zeitschrift f. wiss. Zool.,’ xiv, p. 107, pl. xiv, a:)

Wauitsr the author, in the course of last summer, was
pursuing his investigations on the eggs of the Rotatoria, he
noticed on the 15th of August a beautiful example of
Floscularia ornata, together with four minute ova, which had
been already deposited in the aquarium. A fifth ovum,
which was still contained within the maternal body, was
expelled under his eyes on the following morning, by a
forcible contraction of the animal. The germinal yesicle
was still present, and it differed, moreover, from the other
ova in the circumstance that the embryo, whose motions
became more and more lively, remained in this condition the
whole of the following day, exhibiting at times movement
of the difficultly seen pharynx. It was not till the 20th
that the egg was ruptured at the end where the ciliary
motion had been perceived. The little animal crept slowly
about with a worm-like movement, and now exhibited very
distinctly the circle of cilia at its anterior extremity. When
completely liberated, it might be about twice the length
of the egg, but it had not the slightest resemblance to the
parent, so that any one accidentally coming across such an
animalcule under the microscope might readily mistake it
for a newly discovered species. The author, therefore, gives
a figure of the contents, which were slightly separated from
the shell at either end (fig. 1).

Up to the 17th of August he was unable to perceive any
striking change in any of the ova, except that in one of
them there appeared in the course of the day a minute red
point, which seemed to change its place, although he was
unable actually to witness any movement init. But, on the

VOL. IV.—NEW SER. U

280 DR. WEISSE, ON FLOSCULARIA ORNATA.

following day (the 18th), early in the morning, he perceived
in this egg two distinct bright-red eye-spots, which, owing
to the visible movements of the already developed embryo,
were continually changing their relative positions towards
each other ; and, at the same time, he noticed a faint ciliary
movement at one end of the embryo young floscularia,
in this condition, since none is given by Ehrenberg,
who had only obtained a sight of the embryo by artificially
rupturing the egg.

Whilst his whole attention was directed to this ovum,
two others in the meanwhile had so far advanced in their
development that the eggs were already visible in them.
They both gave exit to the embryos on the 22nd, one at
eight o’clock in the morning, and the other two hours later ;
in both the ciliary movements, at the anterior end, were
distinctly visible whilst the embryos were still within the
shell. In a fourth egg the embryo had died, as was evident
from the circumstance that its contents, even before the
appearance of the eye-spots, had contracted from each end
into the middle of the egg into an irregular mass. The fifth
egg, lastly, that, viz., which the author had seen escape from
the parent on the 16th, presented as early as on the 20th,
in the morning, both eyes in the actively moving embryo,
but it did not rupture before the morning of the 23rd, so
that the complete development of the embryo was effected
within seven days. In conclusion, he remarks that the first
egg had probably been deposited on the 13th August.

The foregoing observation stands in striking contrast to
Ehrenberg’s statements respecting the rapid propagation of
Hydatina senta.* But, since, from the author’s previous
researches,t as well as from many later observations on the
subject of the ova of the Rotatoria, it is evident that their de-
velopment proceeds with tolerable slowness, Hydatina senta
must probably be regarded as an exception to the general
rule.

Lastly, the author cannot refrain from adverting to the
erroneous statements of M. Pesty respecting Floscularia.
That writer, at p. 47 of his ‘Memoir on the Knowledge of
the Smallest Living Forms’ (1852), states, “ At the foot 2—3
ova, each two thirds as big as the body of the parent animal.
Vitellus brown, and set round with short hairs,’ &c. But
the eggs of this Rotifer are so small as hardly to equal

* ‘Zur Erkenntniss der Organisation in der Richtung des Kleinsten
Raumes.’ 2nd part, 1832. “2

+ “Zur Oologie der Raderthiere.” In ‘Mémoires de l’Académie impé-
riale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg,’ VII série, tome iv, 1862.

DR. WEISSE, ON FLOSCULARIA ORNATA. 281

in length one sixth of the maternal body; and then to
think of a “vitellus set round with short hairs’! It isa
pity that M. Pesty, among the overwhelming multitude of

his often-unused ye has not given us one of his supposed
Floscularia.

REVIEW.

Principles of Human Physiology, by W1tu1aM B. CaRpENntTER,
M.D. Sixth Edition, edited by Henry Power, M.B.
London: Churchill.

Tux sixth edition of a work of nearly one thousand pages
is no mean testimony to its worth. We shall not, therefore,
attempt to criticise this work, but simply afford our readers
the means of judging whether the new edition has kept up
with its predecessors in those departments where the use of
the microscope is necessary. We are not sure that this is a
work of supererogation. Researches with the microscope in
this country do not at all command the attention which their
importance demands, and if we examine the records of our own
societies compared with those of other countries of Europe, it
is very manifest that the easier methods of observation with
the naked eye are favourites with the scientific men of Great
Britain. As a physiologist, no microscopist could complain
that Dr. Carpenter has neglected to chronicle and estimate
those researches which alone could be carried on with the
microscope. He has everywhere recognised research by the
aid of this instrument, and in his work on the use of the
microscope has shown how thoroughly he understands the facts
that can alone be brought into consideration in the science
of physiology by its aid. At the same time we cannot but
regard a certain tendency to speculation in the direction of
physical and chemical forces, as fraught with danger to phy-
siology, unless accompanied with the sound observation of
facts which the microscope alone supplies. On this ground
we felt anxious lest Dr. Carpenter, in committing his work to
the editorship of another, should diminish its value in relation
to all those facts bearing on human physiology which can
alone be properly understood by the use of the microscope.
We are glad to say that, as far as our examination of this
new edition of Dr. Carpenter’s work has gone, we observe no

CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. 283

indication on the part of Dr. Power of attaching less impor-
tance to microsopical researches than his author.

But whilst congratulating Dr. Carpenter and our readers
on this fact, we cannot but regret that he has been com-
pelled to resign the superintendence of another edition of
his own book. And why? Because, ‘having long since
relinquished, on his appoimtment to the post he at present
occupies, the duties of a Teacher of Physiology, and having
consequently ceased to feel it incumbent upon him to keep
up with the science in detail, he found that the mass of new
material which had been accumulated by the industry of
inquiries in every one of its departments, was far greater than
lay within his capacity to systematise ; the time and working
power left at his disposal, by the requirements of his official
position, being extremely limited.” We can hardly imagine
any Englishman reading this passage without blushing for
the honour and reputation of his country. Here is a man of
great ability, and blessed with special endowments for the
prosecution of a particular branch of science, coming forward
and saying, the only reward my countrymen have been able
to bestow on me for all my scientific work is a clerkship, the
nature of which occupation renders me utterly incapable of
pursuing my scientific work. Dr. Carpenter is not a soli-
tary case. There are other appointments we could name,
which the Government of this country, in its utter ignorance
of the nature of science or its aims, have made, which have
been attended with the like disastrous results. As a reward
of science men are put into a position where their means of
prosecuting science are absolutely cut off. We are honestly
of opinion that unless our ruling authorities are prepared to
repudiate the notion that they are in earnest about the
advancement of science, they had better make no such ap-
pointments as those of Dr. Carpenter at all. Let us have
our men of science to ourselves. Let us live and die despised
and in poverty, with at least the comforting thought that we
have accepted no “ mess of pottage” that has interrupted us
in the glorious career of advancing true knowledge and lifting
the dark veil which hangs between man and a knowledge of
his Creator’s laws.

We turn over the pages of this new volume of Dr. Carpenter,
and we feel that it is a disgrace to us as a nation that we are
doing so little for the advancement of the knowledge of the
science of physiology. We cannot conceal from ourselves
that whatever may be the satisfaction with which England
regards her educational system, that it is from the universities
of Germany that the light is streaming which gives to

284 CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY.

physiology its interest, and supplies the facts that make it a
progressive science. We hope we may be excused from
alluding to this subject, but it is vital to us. We cannot
expect to keep pace either with Germany or France in phy-
siology, or any other branch of natural science, unless a
greater effort is made to place these sciences in a proper
position in our Universities. Our statesmen, our clergy, and
our lawyers, educated in our universities, are all more or less
infected with the heresy that human thought, character, and
action, are little influenced by the culture of the natural
sciences; the consequence is, that they are everywhere snubbed
and ignored in our courses of education, and their cultivators
rewarded in the same manner as persons of diligent habits
who occupy menial and official positions in society. When
England treats her great men of science as they ought to be
treated, she will find that there is no want of genius and
power amongst her sons; but as long as the men who culti-
vate natural science are regarded as on a level with those
who cultivate the meaner arts of life, so long must she submit
to the degradation of holding a second-rate position amongst
the nations that cultivate science.

It was the burthen of the life of the late Prof. Edward
Forbes, who occupied a professedly scientific position, that
he was always treated as a clerk and not as a man of science.
Throughout the whole of the so-called science and art depart-
ment there is one universal feeling among men of science—
that they are treated as clerks, and the objects and aims of
the officers criticised and judged of by the mere clerk-
intellect which the Government places over them. In these
posts scientific men are insulted, degraded, and discharged,
and there is no help for them anywhere.

But we must still be thankful for our privileges. We do
not think there is a better text-book of Human Physiology
than Dr. Carpenter’s extant. All honour to our young men
who, for little thanks and scant reward, can be found to aid
in the work of making known what has been done in foreign
countries in the great work of scientific progress. The present
edition of the ‘ Human Physiology ’ is different from the last.
Much is omitted and muchis added. The great feature of all
four editions of Dr.Carpenter’s work—the sections on the func-
tions of the cerebrum—are now omitted. In the chapters on
food and digestion, considerable additions have been made to
the section treating of the saliva, whilst the experiments of
recent continental observers on the effect of the nervous system
in this quarter are fully detailed. The experiments of Briiche
on the influence of the gastric acid on the fibrine and albumen,

CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. 285

and the formation of peptones and parapeptones by Meissner,
are given in detail. A great deal has been recently done
with regard to the nature and action of the pancreatic juice
and the bile, and the sections devoted to these subjects
are full of new and interesting matter. There is an inte-
resting account of the structure of the villi, and as this
subject is entirely microscopical, we are induced to give an
extract from this part of the work to show, in the first place,
how well the editor has kept up with his time, and, in the
second place, to show in what a bold and instructive manner
microscopic illustrations may be produced in wood.

106. The villi are extensions of the mucous lining of the intes-
tinal canal, which thickly beset its surface from the pyloric orifice
to the cecum, that is, through the entire

Fig. 18 length of the small intestine, to which

rm they are limited in man. They have
usually somewhat the form of the finger
of a glove, being sometimes nearly cylin-
drical sometimes rather conical, whilst
they not unfrequently become flat-
tened and extended at the base, so that
two or more coalesce. Their length varies
from 1-4th to 1-3rd of a line, or even more;
and the broad flattened kinds are about
1-6th to 1-8th of a line in breadth. In
the upper part of the small intestine,
where they are most numerous, it has
been calculated by Krause that there are
not less than from 50 to 90 in a square
line; and in the lower part, from 40 to 70
in the same area. The details of their
structure are of extreme interest in re-
or _ _.. ference to the mechanism of absorption.
ve hele liens Gitok ™ Tf the plan pursued by Teichmann, that of
injection, be adopted, the appearances pre-

sented are those shown in Figs. 19, 20, and 21, taken from the
beautiful plates which accompany his work on the Lymphatic
System.* From these it appears that the lacteals commence either
by a simple closed extremity, or by a loop, though in broad villi
a network is sometimes visible. The tube or tubes occupying the
centre of the villus appear to possess perfectly definite walls, and
are larger than the numerous capillary blood-vessels which surround
and are external to them. ‘Their average diameter is about
1-800th or 1-1000th of an inch; but they present here and there
slight dilatations and contractions, and at the base of the villus
terminate in a network of lacteal vessels immediately subjacent
to the Lieberkiihnian follicles (Fig. 206), termed by Teichmann,
from the closeness of the meshes, the Reta angustum. This plexus
communicates with another possessing larger vessels, which are sup-
plied with valves, are more deeply situated in the submucous areolar

* Ludwig Teichmann, ‘ Das Saugader System,’ Leipzig, 1861.

286 CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY.

tissue (Fig. 20 ¢), and constitute the so-called Reta amplum. Besides
the central lacteal, the villus is composed of a matrix of areolar
tissue,* without any intermixture of elastic fibres, containing in its
interstices numerous branched and communicating cells with nuclei,
and frequently also fat-granules in their interior. No nervous
elements have been traced into the villi; but a layer of muscular
fibre-cells has been shown by Kédlliker and others to surround the

Fig. 19.

A. Villi of Man, showing the blood-vessels and the lacteals.
B. Villus of a Sheep.

lacteal tubes, the contraction of which has been frequently observed
whilst absorption is going on, and has an important influence on the
propulsion of the fluids contained within those vessels.

107. When the villi are examined at such a period after a meal
containing oleaginous matters as has sufficed for its partial digestion,
their lacteals are seen to be turgid with chyle, the extremity of each
being embedded in a collection of globules presenting an opalescent
appearance, and giving to the end of the villus a somewhat mulberry-
like form, It was supposed by Prof. Goodsir,+ by whom this appear-
ance was first observed, that these globules were cells developed

* KGlliker, ‘Manual of Hum. Histology,’ p. 325.
t+ ‘Edin. New Phil. Journ.” July, 1842, and ‘ Anatom. and Pathol. Observ.,
pp. 5—10.

CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. 287

Fig. 20.

Perpendicular section through one of Peyer’s patches in the lower part of the ileum of the Sheep. a,
Lacteal vessels in the villi. 4, The superficial layer of the lacteal vessels (rete angustum). c, The deep
layer of the lacteals (rete amplum). d, Efferent vessels provided with valves. e¢, Lieberkiihn’s glands.
F, Peyer’s glands. g, Circular muscular layer of the wall of the intestine. , Longitudiual muscular layer.
i, Peritoneal layer.

A perpendicular section through the wall of the Processus Vermiformis (Man). a, Lieberkiihn’s glands.
5, Solitary follicie. c, Lacteal vessels, surrounding but not penetrating the follicle. At d are seen the
larger efferent vessels, provided with valves.

288 CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY.

within the basement-membrane during the act of absorption, from
what he considered to be granular germs visible in the same situation
during the intervals of the process; but there can now be little doubt
that the appearance in question is really due to the distension of the
cylindrical epithelial cells investing the

villi with the lacteal fluid; and as it is a Fig. 22,

matter of much interest to examine and ex-
plain the mode in which absorption in this,
its first stage, is effected, the attention of
many observers has been directed to the
structure of these cylindrical investing
epithelial cells; and if the observations of
Heidenhain Briicke be correct, our know-
ledge of the mode of absorption of various
substances, and especially of those of an
oleaginous nature, will be materially sim-
plified. According to these investigations,*
the investing cells of the villi (c, Fig. 22) are
of cylindrical form, with a ciliated border,
and are filled with a clear sarcode contain-
ing a bright ee fee cilia stand erect
during life, but quickly disappear after ae afi
death, being replaced by a globular swelling the ‘Orin of the Lage ane =
projecting from the mouth of the cell, phe hs ia ne ko ie
2 poe aps the per ee of beers communicating branches; “ Gi
wide and free extremity of these cells is ated columnar epithelial cells, the
supposed by some (Briicke) to be almost or chet extrait ol w}ich are
prin sone amet ba closed ene eke nective-tissue-corpuscles.

of sarcode-lke substance, whilst e

and others consider it to be covered bya delicate septum perforated like
a colander with extremely fine canals or pores. The small and attached
extremities of these cells are believed to be prolonged into the interior
of the villi, becoming continuous with the caudate processes of the
corpuscles of the connective tissue (d) which constitutes the matrix,
and which again open, as shown in Fig. 22, into the lacteal vessel (c),
thus affording a direct means of entrance for the fatty matters into
the absorbent system, and explaining the occasional introduction of
solid particles into the circulating current.f

* See Heidenhain in ‘ Moleschott’s Untersuchungen,’ band iv, 1858, p. 251;
and Briicke in band viii, 1862, p. 495; and in ‘ Denkschrift. d. k. Akad. d. Wiss.
zu Wien,’ band vi, p. 105.

+ ‘ Physiologie,’ 1863, p. 365.

t These epithelial cells were described by MM. Gruby and Delafond (*C
Rendus,’ 1843, 1195), as possessing cilia on their free margin; but Kolliker and
Funke considered this appearance as illusory, and produced by the thick
membrane closing the free extremity of the cell being perforated by very delicate
pores or canals, whilst after death it split up in such a manner as to resemble a
bundle of cilia (Kélliker, ‘ Mikroskop, Anat.,’ 1860, p. 329). Balogh, agreeing
with Kdlliker as to the lines in question being canals, differed from him in
believing them to be not pre-existent, but merely the indications of the passages
made by the molecules of fat in penetrating the delicate tissue occluding the
mouth of the cell (‘Moleschott’s Unters,’ band vii, 1861, p. 556). Brettauer
and Steinach, on whose observations the statements of Briicke, Heidenhain, and
other later authors are founded (Brettauer and Steinach, ‘ Sitzungsbericht d. k.
Akad. d. Wissen. zu Wien,’ 1857, band xxiii, p. 303), maintained that the
apparent cilia were prolongations of the cell-contents, the cells themselves

CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. 289

108. In regard to the degree in which the function of nutritive
absorption is performed by the lacteals and by the sanguiferous
system respectively, considerable difference of opinion has prevailed.
When the absorbent vessels were first discovered, and their functional
importance was perceived, it was imagined that the introduction of
alimentary fluid into the vascular system took place by them alone.
Such an idea, however, would be altogether inconsistent with the facts
of Comparative Anatomy ;* and it is completely negatived by the
results of experiment. For that absorption is effected to a very
considerable amount by the agency of the blood-vessels, is shown in
the first place, by the readiness with which aqueous fluids and even
alcohol are taken-up from the parietes of the stomach, and are carried
into the general circulation. Thus in a case of extroversion of the
bladder, observed by Mr. Erichsen,} in which the urinary secretion
could be collected immediately on its passing from the kidney,
when a solution of ferrocyanide of potassium was taken into
the stomach, this salt was detected in the urine in one instance
within 1 minute, and in three other instances within 2} minutes.
In all these cases, however, the stomach may be presumed to have
been empty, and the vascular system in a state of aptitude for absorp-
tion ; since the experiments were made either after a long fast, or at
least four hours after a light meal. When, on the other hand, the
salt was introduced into the stomach soon after the ingestion of
alimentary substances, a much longer period elapsed before it could
be detected in the urine; thus, when a substantial meal had been
taken two hours previously, the interval was 12 minutes; when tea
and bread-and-butter had been taken one hour previously, the interval
was 14 minutes: a similar meal having been taken twenty-four minutes
previously, the interval was 16 minutes; when only two minutes had
passed since the conclusion of such a meal, the interval was 27
minutes; and when a solid meal had been concluded just before the
introduction of the salt, the interval was 39 minutes. These facts are
of great importance, in showing the very marked influence which the
state of the stomach exercises upon the absorption of matters intro-
duced into it. Notless important, however, is the state of the vaseular
system in regard to turgescence or emptiness; for it was found by
Magendie, that when he had injected a considerable quantity of water
into the veins of a dog, poison was absorbed very slowly ; whilst, if he
relieved the distension by bleeding, there was speedy evidence of its
entrance into the circulation. The rapidity with which not only
aqueous but alcoholic liquids introduced into the stomach may pass
into the general circulation, has been shown by the experiments of
Dr. Percy ;{ who found that when strong alcohol was injected into
the stomach of dogs, the animals would sometimes fall sensible to
the ground immediately upon the completion of the injection, their

terminating with a smooth circular] margin. They described the columnar
arrangement as broadest and most distinct in fasting animals, whilst in cells
filled with fat it diminishes to one half or one third of its former breadth, and
the strie disappear, so that only a bright narrow rim or border is left. Lastly,
Wiegandt is stated in ‘ Canstatt’s Jahresbericht ’ for 1862, p. 32, to view the
cilia as merely the optical expression of striz or wrinkles.

* See ‘ Princ. of Comp. Phys.,’ chap. iv.

+ ‘Medical Gazette,’ vol. xxxvi, p. 363.

+ ‘Experimental Enquiry concerning the Presence of Alcohol in the Ventricles
of the Brain,’ p. 61.

290 CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY.

respiratory and cardiac movements ceasing within two minutes; and
that on post-mortem examination in such cases, the stomach was
nearly empty, whilst the blood was highly charged with alcohol ; thus
rendering it almost certain, that not merely the final destruction of
nervous power, but the immediate loss of sensibility, was due to the
action of aleoholized blood upon the nervous centres. Finally, nu-
merous experiments have been made by various physiologists, which
have demonstrated that absorption of alimentary and other substances
may take place from the walls of the stomach; these substances
having been prevented from passing into the intestine by a ligature
around the pylorus. Now, as the absorbent system does not present
that peculiar arrangement in the coats of the stomach, which it does
in those of the intestinal tube, there can be little doubt that the in-
troduction of such substances into the system must be effected chiefly,
if not entirely, through the medium of its sanguiferous capillaries.
109. That the blood-vessels of the intestinal tube largely partici-
pate in the introduction of soluble alimentary matter into the system,
has been clearly proved by various observations upon the constitution
of the blood of the mesenteric veins; these having shown that, after
the digestion of albuminous and farinaceous or saccharine substances,
albuminose, dextrin, grape-sugar, and lactic acid, are detectible in
that fluid, whose usual composition is greatly altered by the presence
of these substances, as well as by the augmented proportion of water
which it contains. Moreover, it is asserted by Bruch,* that so large a
quantity of fat is absorbed into the blood-vessels, that the superficial
capillary network sometimes presents an opalescent whiteness. We
may consider the sanguiferous vessels, then, as affording the usual
channel by which a large part of the nutritive materials are introduced
into the system; but these are not allowed to pass into the general
current of the circulation, until they have been subjected to an import-
ant assimilating process, which it appears to be one great office of the
liver to perform, whereby they are rendered more fit for the purposes
they are destined to serve in the economy. Of this we shall presently
have tospeak. But the absorbent power which the blood-vessels of
the alimentary canal possess, is not limited to alimentary substances ;
for it is through them almost exclusively that soluble matters of every
other description are received into the circulation. This, which may
now be considered a well-established fact, was first clearly shown
by the carefully conducted experiments of MM. Tiedemann and
Gmelin,} who mingled with the food of animals various substances,
which, by their colour, odour, or chemical properties, might be easily
detected in the fluids of the body; after some time the animal was
examined ; and the result was, that unequivocal traces of such
substances were not unfrequently detected in the venous blood and in
the urine, whilst it was only in a very few instances that any indica-
tion of them could be discovered in the chyle. The colouring matters
employed were various vegetable substances, such as gamboge, madder,
and rhubarb ; the odorous substances were camphor, musk, asafcetida,
&ec.; while, in other cases, various saline bodies, such as chloride of
barium, acetate of lead and of mercury, and some of the prussiates,
which might easily be detected by chemical tests, were mixed with
the food. The colouring matters, for the most part, were carried out

* Siebold and Kolliker’s ‘ Zeitschrift,’ April, 1853.
+ ‘Versuche iiber die Wege auf welchen Substanzen aus dem Magen und
Darmkanal ins Blut gelangen,’ Heidelberg, 1820.

CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. 291

of the system, without being received either into the veins or the
lacteals; the odorous substances were generally detected in the
venous blood and in the urine, but not in the chyle; whilst of the
saline substances, many were found in the blood and in the urine, and
a very few only in the chyle.* A similar conclusion might be drawn
from the numerous instances in which various substances introduced
into the intestines have been detected in the blood, although the
thoracic duct had been tied; but these results are less satisfactory,
because, though there is probably no direct communication (as
maintained by many) between the lacteals and the veins in the
mesenteric glands, the partitions which separate their respective con-
tents are evidently so thin, that transudation may readily take place
through them.

In the chapter devoted to the blood, the amount of attention
devoted to chemical considerations has beeu much reduced in
this edition, and for the very good reason that little reliance
can be placed on the chemical analysis of substances having
the high combining proportions of the constituents of the
blood. The field which still opens up the highest prospect of
future discoveries in the blood is that of the morphology of its
globules and crystals, which can alone be studied by the aid
of the microscope. There is an interesting section in this
work, not found in the previous editions, on the vital pro-
perties of the blood, which we presume is written by the
present editor, and also another section on the balance in the
vital economy, in which an elaborate account is given of the
debtor and creditor account of the body during reception of
supplies and rejection of waste. There is also a good résumé
of all that has been done on the glycogenic function of the
liver, and the section on the urine is brought up to the
present state of our knowledge.

Much has been done in the structure and fanction of the
nerves. Amidst the large amount of contradictory results
and opinions, the editor has managed to give the principal
facts in this difficult branch of inquiry.

The chapters on muscular tissue, and on generation and
development, have been considerably extended, and new
observations recorded.

The number of woodcuts have been increased from 156 to
206, and several of the old ones replaced by new. The
getting up of the work is worthy the famous house of
Churchill. Works on physiology are sometimes supposed to

* Colin, however, on examining the fluid of the thoracic duct, readily found
iodide and ferrocyanide of potassium in dogs, sheep, and oxen, to which these
salts had been administered eighteen minutes previously. (‘Bulletin de l’Aca-
démie,’ xxvii, p. 948.)

292 CARPENTER, ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY.

be only written for medical students. We shall be glad to
see this immensely injurious impression removed, and recom-
mend all who have a stomach, heart, and brain to keep in
order, to study this work. We trust the time is coming when
the study of this most necessary of all the sciences will be
rescued from the hands of a class, and pursued by all people
who wish to live in obedience to the laws of their Creator.

NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE.

A Cheap and Portable “Turntray.”—In the “social” use
of the microscope, there is, aS every microscopist well
knows, a great amount of discomfort in having continually to
be shifting one’s seat, which is alike troublesome and fatiguing
to one’s friends as to one’s self, but this is of minor impor-
tance compared with the unfitting the eye for observing, and
which, with a binocular, is a far more serious drawback than
with the single tube, so that some contrivance to obviate this
has become almost a necessity. The revolving table is
certainly capable of rendering this changing unnecessary,
but the table is not only not without its inconveniences, but
it has also the more objectionable item of cost to prevent its
coming into general use. Nor does it appear that any
efficient substitute for it has yet been brought into favour.
What is required is a tray capable of holding one full-sized
instrument together, its lamp and condenser so arranged
that it may be passed from the observer to a friend sitting by
his side, or to a party of four or five or more in succession. The
indispensable essentials for it to possess are, first, efficiency ;
that is, sufficient solidity and steadiness to prevent vibration,
and to move freely without friction or noise ; next, cheapness ;
then comes portability; and last, but not least, it must
possess a certain amount of “good looks” to ensure its
admission to the drawing-room. These desiderata I have
succeeded in combining in what I have styled a “ turntray,”
and which has delighted all who have seen it.

It consists of a stout rectangular board, twenty-three
inches long and thirteen and a half inches wide, working on
a pivot at one end, and on two revolving runners at the
other, and being thus supported on three points, it is always
steady in any position. The ends are strengthened by two
other inch-thick crop pieces, which are also raised for the
working parts so as to bring the surface upon which the
instrument stands as near to the table as possible, leaving
the lower side only just free from touching it. Being under

294 MEMORANDA.

two feet long, and few tables being less than four feet wide
or across, it is capable of accommodating from two to six or
more persons at an ordinary dining-table, or placed on a
circular centre table, as many as can sit around it. It thus
becomes, for one instrument, equally useful as the whole
table would be.

In common deal it may be made for a very few shillings.
In solid well-seasoned inch-thick mahogany, French-polished,
with bronzed iron centre support, corked for steadiness and
to prevent scatching, and with highly brass runners, it ought
to be obtained in London for about a guinea or less. The
builder (himself a very clever hand) whose workmen made it
for me, is so impressed with the belief in its usefulness and
the certainty of its being approved when seen, that he has
volunteered to provide a number of them during the slack
time of winter, at the lowest possible cost, to be sent out as
patterns, or he will supply the trade with them, if required.—
W. Kencrty Bripeman, 69, St. Giles’, Norwich.

Zoosperms in the ovaria of Pulmogasteropoda.—In reference
to the above subject I see that Dr. Lawson has proposed, in
the number of your Journal for July, some objections to the
common opinion that the ovary in these animals is in reality
a hermaphrodite gland; they appear to me by no means in-
surmountable, and with your permission I will do my best to
answer them. His first objection is, that the zoosperms are
found fully developed in the ovary, and imperfectly formed in
the spermatheca, and must therefore have undergone a species
of retrograde development. This is by no means my experi-
ence; on the contrary, in the ovary of H. aspersa, I have
found zoosperms in the immature condition, which he calls
spermatophora; that is, still united by their heads into
bundles, and having yet a good deal of the granular contents
of the parent cell remaining attached; and in the ovary of
Arion they have occurred in a still earlier stage, so that there
is no necessity for the hypothesis of retrograde development.

With regard to his other objections, viz., there being only
one excretory canal to the ovary, and the impossibility of the
passage of the zoosperms into the spermatheca, I may state
that I think I have seen in Helix a small tube situated in the
connective-tissue, and which surrounds the ovarian duct, but of
this I am not certain; at any rate, granting that the canal is
single as far as the abdomen gland, it is just possible that the
ova are not sufficiently mature to be impregnated, until they
have passed that gland, and then the structure of the uterus

MEMORANDA. 295

permits the separation of the two products, for on the prostate
side of the uterine tube is situated a groove or gutter extend-
ing its whole length, separated from the main cavity by a
longitudinal valve-like structure, which allows the two canals
thus formed to communicate with each other along its free
edge ; this groove runs directly into the vas deferens, and thus
conveys the zoosperms into the penis, from which their trans-
ference into the spermatheca appears easy. I find that Dr.
Lawson has not described this twofold structure of the cavity
of the uterus, or rather, denies it ; but I found it easily enough,
and it is well described by H. Nickel in ‘ Miiller’s Archives’
for 1844. As to the prostate being the largest gland of the
whole apparatus, I should hardly think that that alone
would be sufficient to substantiate its claim to the character
of testis. Besides the above considerations in favour of the
hermaphrodite character of the ovary, there are a few others,
such as, if this gland does not secrete the zoosperms, how
could they get there? Its duct is strongly ciliated, and the
direction of the ciliary current is towards the outlet, and one
would suppose that they would find great difficulty in making
way against the stream, and in an immature condition it
would be still more trying.

In opposition to the above facts, Dr. Lawson has only to
put forward the size of the prostate and a few “ oval and ellip-
tical, cpithelial-like cells, usually described as the parents of
zoosperms.””

I will leave it to your readers to say which view is most
likely to be correct, and which looks more like a petitio
principti.—Atrrup Sanpers, F.L.S., Brixton.

The Theory of Circulation in the Vorticellide.—I have seen
the contractile vesicle of Vorticellidee to present the follow-
ing appearance under the microscope in the majority of
cases :

First. On certain movements of the reflector the vesicle
entirely disappeared, but that on subsequent alterations of
the position of the reflector I observed its reappearance. I
am inclined to think that any subsequent contraction-like
appearanee of the vesicle was due to the fact of its having
been removed from the line of focus by the movements of the
living animal; to the same cause I also attribute an expansion-
like appearance of the vesicle. Hence the characteristic term
“ contractile vesicle ”’ is inappropriate, unreasonabie, and un-
founded ; the plain word vesicle being truthful.

Secondly. I have never witnessed the processes proceeding

VOL. 1V.— NEW SER. x

296 MEMORANDA.

from the vesicle, stated by Lachmann to have been observed
by him; I believe that what he thought to be processes or
branches of the vesicle were merely occasional interpositions
of the cilia of the disc between the object and the microscope ; I
believe that the delusion sometimes assumes an almost con-
vincing aspect, not of two distinct processes, as Lachmann has
observed, but of branches to and from the vesicle, indefinite in
their position and number. Thus, we see how easy it is to
account for the fallacy into which Lachmann and most other
naturalists have fallen. I acknowledge that there is a vesicle of
unknown use in the Vorticellide; I deny the existence of a
** contractile vesicle,” acting as a heart. I acknowledge the
presence of cilia; I deny that of vesicular branches or vessels.
Hence I infer that the statement that there is a circulatory
apparatus in the Vorticellide is without foundation, and may
only be regarded as a picture painted by a vivid imagination,
or as an hypothesis promulgated for a selfish purpose. I in-
vite the investigation of naturalists who have not as yet made
themselves practically acquainted with these animals; and at
a future period, when, having become thorough masters of this
department of zoological science, I would ask them to give me
the credit of, and to support, the views I have in this paper
expressed.— WiLL1AM HanpsrL GRIFFITHS.

Mr. Goddard’s Mounting Table seems liable to the objection
that there is no provision for regulating the temperature so
as to prevent it rising to the boiling-point of balsam. I
have for a long time used a water bath of tin or zinc
14 by 31 by 34 inches with a ledge running round the top

a
i a

to prevent the slides slipping. If a cover of cardboard be
placed on this to keep off the dust, and the orifice through
which the water is introduced left open, the apparatus with
the slides on it may be left to itself for any reasonable time
over any source of heat. An hour or two generally suffices
to harden the balsam, and the air-bubbles (if any) disappear.
—T, G. Sroxns, Aughnacloy.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Briston Naturaists Socrery.

Tue following extract from the Second Annual Report of this
Society will be interesting to many of your readers:

“Jn respect to the transactions of the second year, a brief
outline of the several excursions and meetings will offer many
poimts worthy of notice in this report.

“ The excursions, four in number, took place in the order fol-
lowing :—In the month of June, a trip was arranged to Clevedon
by rail, thence on foot to Walton Castle, and along the hill,
returning by the sea-side to Clevedon. The Rev. G. W. Braiken-
ridge communicated to the party a botanical history of the locality,
and the President, Mr. Wm. Sanders, explained the geological
phenomena most worthy of notice in the course of the walk.

“The second excursion, in July, had for its object the examina-
tion of the deep cutting near Patchway, on the line of the S. W.
Union Railway, on which Mr. Charles Moore, of Bath,\favoured
the party with his company, and collected the materials for a
paper read by that gentleman at one of the meetings.

“The next expedition in August, was directed to the Lias
Quarries of Keynsham, and the great fault in the stratification of
Bitton-hill. The objects of the party were successfully accom-
plished under the guidance of the President, Mr. Sanders.

“In September, a party again assembled, undeterred by the very
unfavorable weather experienced on two of the three previous
excursions, to explore the fossil beds of the limestone formation on
the banks of the Avon from the Hotwells to Sea-Mills, and to
obtain from the marshes below Shirehampton certain botanical
specimens. This excursion formed an agreeable close to the
series of summer meetings.

“On the Ist of October, the society resumed its evening meet-
ings at the Institution.

“The question of election of new members was discussed at
this meeting, and the future management and responsibility of
the elections transferred to the Council,—the time of the meet-
ing being thus devoted to the scientific engagements of the
evening. The Council were further empowered to invite the
attendance of ladies on suitable occasions,

298 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

«“ Mr. Charles Davis read a paper on the Natural History of
Amber, and Mr. Hugh Owen communicated an interesting dis-
covery by Mr. Jonathan Couch of an open tube leading from the
ear to the air-bladder of certain fishes, analogous to the eustachian
tube in the higher animals.

“In November, Mr. W. W. Stoddart read to a large audience
(including ladies amongst the visitors) an account of the tea-plant,
its properties and adulterations.

“At a very full meeting in December, Dr. Beddoe gave an
account of the Maori race of New Zealand, and Dr. Joseph
Swayne exhibited portraits drawn by himself of the chiefs of that
race, lately resident in our city. Mr. Charles Ottley Groom
also made observations on the cranial characteristics of the abo-
riginal New Zealanders. On the same evening, Mr. Frederick
Martin exhibited a collection of specimens illustrating the
Marine Zoology of Clevedon, and read a paper descriptive of
them.

“ At the January meeting, Dr. Samuel Martyn read a paper
describing two species of Holothuride, known in the commerce
of the Chinese waters under the name of Trepang, and used there
as an article of food. Specimens, drawings, and chemical demon-
strations accompanied the paper. Mr. Henry Swayne then read
a paper on ‘ Anthropoid Apes,’ illustrated by examples selected
from the Museum.

«At the February meeting, a proposition of the Council was
made to the society to purchase a specimen of a rare bird
(Apteryx) for the Museum. Mr. Leipner gave a short account
of this bird, and the recommendation of the Council was adopted.
Mr. Moore of Bath then read a paper entitled ‘ Results of a
geological ramble to Patchway,’ illustrated with specimens. On
the same evening, Mr. Collens exhibited an improved Burette for
the purpose of volumetric analysis, which obtained the approval
of several gentlemen experienced in that department of practical
chemistry.

“On March the 8rd, a numerous attendance of members and
visitors demonstrated the increasing attraction of the society’s
meeting. The new purchase (a fine specimen of Apteryx) was
exhibited, after which Mr. Stoddart displayed a series of illumi-
nated photographs of objects illustrating the natural history of
our locality, and described the objects exhibited in his account of
‘A Naturalist’s walk.’

“The concluding meeting of the winter session was occupied by
Mr. William Lant Carpenter’s descriptive account of the material
called ‘ waterglass,’ used in modern fresco painting, with a de-
tailed analysis of a specimen of the material used for the decora-
tion of the new houses of parliament. Mr. Chas. O. Groom
read a paper on the ‘ Nidification of a few birds that breed in
Britain.’

“This cursory notice of the many interesting excursions and
meetings of the society during the past year, may suffice to give a

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 299

general and connected view of its scientific transactions. The
details having been rendered familiar to all our members by the
regularly printed abstracts, do not require to be further dwelt on.
Your Council cannot, however, refrain from pointing with the
liveliest satisfaction to these evidences of sound and steady ad-
vance to a high, scientific position, which must be a matter of
earnest congratulation to all concerned.

“ They feel, moreover, that the society may now take another
and very important step in its onward career, and to this they
would beg to direct especial attention.

“In the April meeting of this year, your Hon. Secretary ex-
pressed his views and wishes in regard to the accomplishment of
a complete history of the Geology, Paleontology, Mineralogy,
Botany, and Zoology of our locality, and as far as might be
possible, its entire collective natural history, including the highest
and lowest forms of animal and vegetable life. A work of such
large dimensions, and requiring such assiduous labour, can be
surmounted only by the combined and continuous efforts of many
naturalists qualified by previous experience and exactitude of
knowledge in various departments; a work, however, worthy
of their united powers, and offering great opportunities and a
high reward. It must be a source of just pride to the society,
that it can feel able, as well as willing, to undertake so important
a work, and that it can look forward with confidence to its com-
pletion in due time. The society has, however, fairly committed
itself to this undertaking with full faith in the powers of many
distinguished members, and with the praiseworthy determination
to carry out their resolve to the best of their ability. At the
last meeting, your Council was entrusted with the arrangements
necessary for working out this scheme, and preparations are
already being made. A careful study of details is, however, re-
quisite, and the amount of work before the society appears to
increase daily, as each detail passes under consideration.”

BirMineHam Naturat History Association.
MICROSCOPICAL SECTION.
Mr. Tuomas Fippran in the Chair.

July 12th.—Mr. Davies read his paper on the Entomostraca,
commencing by stating that he should only describe the most
common species. He passed on to give an account of that in-
teresting creature Cyclops quandricornis ; showed, by the aid of
diagrams, the different stages through which the young pass
before arriving at its mature state.

The Canthocamptus minutus claimed attention, but being in
many respects so similar to the first described animal, was soon

800 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

despatched to make way for the family Daphniade, the creatures
which appear to be the most common of all the Entomostraca.
The paper was rendered very intelligible by numerous diagrams,
and by the microscopes of the society.

Aug. 9th.—Dr. Hind read his paper on Trichina spiralis. He
commenced from the discovery of the Trichina in England, by
Mr. Hilton in 1832, and closely followed its history down to
the present time. The paper was illustrated by the exhibition of
mounted specimens of muscle containing Trichina.

Sep. 13th. The chairman, Mr. Thomas Fiddian, read a paper
on the History of the Honey Bee. He commenced with the
different histories given of it by the ancient Grecian philosophers,
and carefully traced its history down to the present time. The
anatomy of the bee was illustrated by diagrams lithographed
expressly for the purpose; one of each Mr. Fiddian presented
to each gentleman present.

At the conclusion of the paper, Mr. Fiddian exhibited the
entire works of Dr. Power, R. Hook, Zahn, Baker, Martin, G.
Adams, G. Adams, jun., Dr. Hill, Leeuwenhock, Goring and
Pritchard, many of which had formed part of the library of the
late Dr. Golding Bird.

Mr. H. Webb exhibited the luminous moss Schistostega
pinnata.

INDEX TO JOURNAL.

VOL. IV, NEW SERIES.

A.

Abbey, Walter, M.R.C.S., notes on
organic structures, illustrated by
dyes, 1

Alder, Joshua, descriptions of new
British Polyzoa, 95.

Alge, remarks on Mr. Archer’s

paper on, by Dr. J. B. Hicks, 253.

Aracez, raphides in the, 208, 209.

Archer, William, an endeavour to |

identify Palmogla macrococca
with description of the plant be-
lieved to be meant, and of a new
species, both, however, referable
rather to the genus Mesotenium,
109.
~ description of two new
species of Cosmarium (Corda), of
Penium (Bréb.), and of <Arthro-
desmus (Ehr.), 174.
Arthrodesmus, Ehr., 175.
Asparagacee, raphides in the, 208.

B.

Beale, Lionel S., on the ultimate
distribution and function of very
fine nerve-fibres, 11.

es on contractility as dis-
tinguished from purely vital move-
ments, 182.

Beck, Richard, on the illusive ap-
pearances produced in some trans-
parent objects, 2.

Berkeley, M. J., on the spiral mark-
ings of the flocci in the genus
Trichia, 232.

Birmingham Natural History Asso-
ciation (Microscopical Section),
meeting of, 246.

Blood-crystals, Teichmann’s, W.
Hendry on, 168.

Brighton, West, Microscopical Club,
meeting of, November 23, 1863,
54:

Bridgman, W. K., on a cheap and
portable turntable,

C.

Cellepora, 95.

, attenuata, Ald., 97.

» cervicornis, Flem., 98.

;, dichotoma, Hincks, 96.

» ramulosa, Linn., 96.
Cellulariade, Busk, 107.
Comparative Anatomy, Lectures on,

by T. H. Huxley, review, 263,
Compressorium, Ross’s new, descrip-
| tion of, 41.
| “Contractilily ” as distinguished
| from purely vital movements,
| LS. Beale on, 182.
| Cosmarium, Corda, 174.
|
|

“ pygmeum, Arch., 174.

- Penium, and Arthrodes-
mus. W. Archer on new species
of, 174.

Cotton fibre, Captain J. Mitchell’s
report to the Madras Govern-
ment on, 219.

- Chas. O’Neill on the
structure of the, 48.

| Crystallization and the microscope

| by Thomas Davies, 248.

: Cyclostomata, 108.

302 INDEX TO JOURNAL.

Dz.

Dale, J. G., formula for Turnbull’s

blue injection, 219
na and Thomas Davies, on
transparent injections, 49.

Davies Thomas, ‘ On the Preparation
and Mounting of Microscopic Ob-
jects,’ review of, 141.

on crystallisation
and the microscope, 248.

Desmidiacex, 174.

Diatomacee, Dr. P. Heiberg’s clas-
sification of the, 198.

Diatoms, stereoscopic photographs
of, F. H. Wenham on, 205.

Docophoroides, Denny, 21.

4 brevis, 21.
aR taurus, 21.
Docopphorus, Nitzsch, 22.
” manderinus, Gigl., 22.
E.

Earthworm, anatomy of, by E. Ray
Lankester, 258.

Kel, W. Houghton on the existence
of a pair of subcutaneous orifices
in the head of the, 1.

Eges of Floscularia ornata, on de-
“velopment of, by Dr. J. F. Weisse,
279.

Eschara, Linn., 102.

3 levis, Flem., 102.

», Landsborovii,Johust.(sp.),105.
He Jorea, Ald., 104.

» pavonella, Ald. (sp.), 106.

Eulenstein, F. L., on Homeeladia in
fresh water, 172.

Exhibition, International, report on
the microscopes exhibited at the,

F.

Floscularia ornata, on the eggs of,
279.

Fox, W. T., ‘On Skin Diseases of
Parasitic Origin,’ review of, 31.
Frey, Henirich, ‘Das Mikroskop,’

&e., review of, 39.

G.

Gastropods pulmoniferous, H. Law-
son on zoosperms in the’ ovaria
of, 204.

Geueration, spontaneous, discussion
on, at the French Academy, 143.
Giglioli, H., on some parasitical

insects from China, 18.

Griffith, J.W., ‘An Elementary Text-
book of the Microscope,’ review
of, 201.

Gulliver, Geo., on the importance of
raphides as natural characters in
botany, 6

6 notes on raphides,
205.

ME

Heiberg, P.A.C , “Conspectus criti-
cus Diatomacearum Danicarum,’ a
review of, 198.

Helix aspersa, A\fred Sanders on the
anatomy of the, 147.

Hendry, W., on 'Teichmann’s blood-
crystals, 168.

Bs on Hendry’s crystals,
241.

Hicks, J. Braxton, M.D., F.R.S.,
remarks on Mr. Archer’s paper on
Alge, 253.

Hogs, Jabez, ‘ Manual of Ophthal-
moscopic Surgery,’ notice of, 38.
Homeecladia in fresh water, F. L.

Eulenstein on, 172.

Hornera, Lamx., 108.

» borealis, Busk, 108.

Houghton, W., note on the existence
of ¢ a pair of ‘subcutaneous orifices
in the head of the eel and conger, 1.

Hulke, J. W., on the minute anatomy
of the retina in reptiles, 236.

Hull Microscopical Society, soirée
of the, 150.

Hull, Micro. philosophical Society,
account of the sessional course of
the, 238.

Huxley, T. H., Lecturer on the
Elements of Comparative Anatomy,
63.

I.

[dmoneidz, Busk, 108.
Injection, J. G. Dale, formula for
Turnbull’s blue, 219.

INDEX TO

Injections, transparent, J. G. Dale
and Thomas Davies on, 49.°

Insects, parasitical, from China, H.
Giglioli on some, 18.

K.

Kolliker, A., on Myoryktes Weis-
manni, anew parasite inhabiting
the muscles of the frog, 27.

L.

Lankester, E. Ray, on the anatomy
of the earthworm, 258.

Lawson, H., on zoosperms in the
ovaria of pulmouniferous gastro-
pods, 204.

Lieberkiihn, N., on motile pheno-
mena in sponges, 189.

Linnean Society, transactions of the,
notices of, 133.

Lipeurus, Nitzsch, 18.

» Diomede, Duf., 19.

M.

Manchester Microscopical Society,
meetings of the, May 18th, 1863, 48.
o Oct. 19th, 1863, 49, 218.
5 Nov. 17th, ,, Bite
Mesotenium, W. Archer on the
genus, 116.
- mirificum, Arch., 130.
Microscope, J. J. Plummer on the
choice of a, 154.
Microscopes exhibited at the Interna-
tional Exhibition, report on the, 83.
Mitchell, Captain J., report to the
Madras Government on cotton
fibre, 219.
Microscopical Society of London.
presentations to the, Oct. 16th,

1863, 47.
x Nov. 11th, 1868, 47.
a Dee. 9th, _,, 47.
Jan. 13th, 1864, 216.

a Feb. 10th, ,, 216.
ne April 13th, ,, 216.
in May ilth,|., 16.
" June 18th, ,, 217.
Zs Now. LEthp ye Ab:
> Dec. 9th, eras,

JOURNAL. 303

Microscopical Society of London,

Pe proceedings of the,

Oct. 14th, 1863, 46.
Ms Jan. 13th, 1864, 148.
me annual meeting, Feb.

10th, 1864 148

is March 30th, 1864, 210.

=. April 13th,. ,, 214

= May llth, ,, 214.

z June 8th, oy OL.

Myoryktes Weismanni, A. Kolliker
on, 27.

N.

Neill, Chas., on an apparatus for
measuring tensile strengths, 51.
Nerve-fibres, L. S. Beale on the
ultimate distribution and function
of, 11.

Nirmus, Nitzsch, 22.
» mandarinus, Gigl., 23.

O.

Objects, transparent, R. Beck on
the illusive appearances produced
in some, 2.

Onagracee, raphides in the, 207.

O’Neill, Charles, on the structure of
the cotton fibre, 48.

Orchidaece, raphides in the, 208.

Organic structure illustrated by
means of dyes, by Walter Abbey,
M.R.CS.,

Ornithomyia, Latr., 23.

= Chinensis, Gigl., 23.

P:

Palmicellaria, Ald., 100.
35 elegans, Ald., 100.
Palmoglea macrococca, W. Archer
on, 109.
Penium, Bréb, 174.
» Mooreanum, Arch., 179.
Phipson, T. L., ‘The Utilization of
Minute Life,’ review of, 195.
Plumer, J. J., a few words on the
choice of a microscope, 153.
Polariscope, Highley’s cheap lan-
tern, 42.
Polyctenes, Westw., and Gigl., 25.

3f9

Polyctenes mollossus, W. & G., 25.

Polyzoa, new British, Joshua Alder
on, 95.

Pulmogasteropoda, zoosperms, in,
294.

Q

Quadricellaria, Sars, 101.

és vacilis, Sars. 101.

Quekett Medal Fund, list of sub-
scribers to the, 217.

R,

Raphides, G. Gulliver on the im-
portance of, asnatural characters, 6.
3 3 notes on, 205.
Retina of amphibia and reptiles, J.
W. Hulke on the minute ana-
tomy of the, 236.
Ross’s new compressorium, descrip-
tion of, 41.

8.

Sanders, Alfred, on the anatomy of

Helix aspersa, 146.
e on zoosperms in pulmo-

gasteropoda, 294.

Scrupocellaria, V. Ben., 107.

a Delilii, Aud., 107.

Southampton Microscopical Society,
annual soirée of the, 57.

Sponges, N. Lieburkiihn on motile
phenomena in, 189.

Stodder, C., on some diatomaceous
earth, 242.

Strebla, Wiedemann, 24.
» molossa, Gigl., 24.

INDEX TO JOURNAL.

‘Vv

Tensile strengths, C. O’Neill on an
apparatus for measuring, 51.

Trichia, M. J. Berkeley on the spiral
markings of the flocci in the
genus, 232.

Turntable, cheap and portable, 293.

W.

Ward, Hon. Mrs., ‘Microscope
Teachings,’ notice of, 140.

Weisse, Dr., on the eggs of Floscu-
laria ornata, 279. .

Welwitschia, Col. P. Yorke on the
spicula contained in the wood of,
234.

Wenham, H. F., on stereoscopic
photographs of diatoms, 205.

West Kent Natural History, Micro-
scopical, and Photographic Society,
annual report of the, 151.

a

Yorke, Col. P., on the spicula con-
tained in the wood of Welwitschia,
234,

Z.

Zoosperms in the ovaria of pul-
moniferous gasteropods, H. Law-
son on, 204.

»» In Pulmogasteropoda, 294.

PRINTED BY J. E, ADLARD, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE, F.C.

JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE [a,

Illustrating the Rev. W. Houghton’s note on Canals in the
Head of the Hel.

Fig.
1.—Head of A. acutirostris, showing the orifices of the canals.
a, Anterior orifice.
6. Posterior ditto.

2.—The same, with the soft parts removed, and with a bristle inserted
into each canal.

3.—Side view of same.
4.—Vertical section of cranium of 4. acutirostris.

5.—Membranous fold or hollow in which the canal terminates.

JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE Is,

Illustrating Henry Giglioli’s paper on some Parasitical
Insects from China.
Fig.
1.—Lipeurus Diomedee, female, about two and a half times larger than
nature; the dorsum is shown.
2.—L. Diomedea, male; the ventral side is exposed.
3.—Docophoroides brevis, female, magnified about three times; ventral
aspect.
4.—D. brevis, male, magnified about three and a half times; dorsal aspect.
5.—Copulating organ of D. drevis, greatly magnified.
6.—Tibia and tarsus of a leg of D. drevis, magnified.
7.—Nirmus mandarinus, magnified seyen times; ventral aspect.
S— ,, as dorsal aspect.
9.—Docophorus mandarinus, magnified about seven times ; dorsal aspect.
10.—Ornithomyia Chinensis, magnified about two and a half times; ventral
aspect.
11.—Tarsus and claw of O. Chinensis, magnified.
12.—Strebla molossa, magnified about six times ; ventral aspect.
13.—Polyctenes molossus, magnified about six times ; dorsal aspect.
14.—Head of P. molossus, magnified.
15.—Spines from head of P. molossus, magnified.

JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES
Illustrating Mr. J. Alder’s paper on New British Polyzoa.

a PLATE II.
ig.
1.—A small portion of Cellepora ramulosa, highly magnified.
2, 3.—Varieties of C. dichotoma, natural size.
4.—A portion of the same, highly magnified.
5.—C. levigata, natural size.
6.—A portion of the branches of the same, magnified.
7.—Lower part of the stem, more highly magnified.
8.—Ovicells of the same, much enlarged.
9.—Quadricellaria gracilis, Sars, natural size.
10,—A portion of the same, highly magnified.
11.—An ovicell of the same, much enlarged.
12,—An avicularium of the same, enlarged.

PLATE III.

1.—Palmicellaria elegans, natural size.
2.—The same, magnified.
3.—A portion of the same, highly magnified.
4.—A cell of the same, more highly magnified.
5.-—E. lorea, natural size.
6.—A small portion of the same, highly magnified.
7.—An avicularium on the lower lip of the same, as seen from above.
8,—E. levis, natural size.
9.—A portion of the same, highly magnified.
10,—An ovicell of the same, more highly magnified.
11.—Outline of a small variety of E. levis, natural size.

PLATE IV.

1.—-E. Landsborovii, natural size, from Mr. Embleton’s specimen, now
in the Newcastle Museum.

2,—A portion of the same, highly magnified.

3.—A cell of the same, with ovicell and avicularium, more highily
magnified.

4,—Scrupocellaria Delilii, natural size.

5.—A portion of the same, magnified, front view.

6.—Back view of the same.

7.—A cell of the same, with ovicel], magnified.

8.—A central avicularium, ditto.

PLATE V.

j.—Hornera| borealis, natural size. ;
2.—A portion of the same, magnified, front view.
3.—A small portion, more highly magnified. =
4.—Back view of a portion of H. borealis, magnified.
5.—A small-portion, more highly magnified.

6.—An ovicell of the same, highly magnified.

7.—An ovicell of H. frondiculata, highly magnified,

. J ° __

magiyts at "t) “Worry HOe0¢.

7 A RO Wang “sah Lit tM siti
uses O28
. Pi La

, ony }
/ ‘
ei 4
F
s P|
iva oil we le | tel
fi 1 * ‘
. ‘ ‘ ,
pelboiie t
ae “l
ae
P
‘ a ii . » ie i
Jortelud oul pak aid
aes
it SPA t
. f
Fae I RT Pts
~ y
' op <4
24
J & ‘ ry 4 +
> 4 Fi . , st sini tA fps, ;
_ : ihr ge MUG j
J j & .é
5 . j af we ‘4
we of:
. rr : 1
A ‘ ase? em orate: ot 0 qh aw) oe AO mpulin

: es eee gy ni a ‘ onde baasghncd,

; ee ale . bishaseh ponte Ji ? “it

“eg JL oacle aps’, 7 a, ui 2S 014 fi eek

oe ahem AK geht {hee a

ee “och Pe.

¥ 4 HE are
jum i, if

a waepolstiet Ne 31h for a if er! ; Laie
ee: ; Sse MEAL we Te 5

Note hih ne F Ts salty al

oe . : : >= ‘
ei - mens Sw cu fae! rive mela jiu! i> oe , 2 _— oid site

¥, i.) Sal ‘ gala th wi i
> aa ai fy Jowri dagAeeinamai

aes: snk

*, ; ahs a J i pa! feng
a + e

JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VII,
Illustrating Mr. Lankester’s paper on the Earthworm.

Fig.
ae huryns. with radiating muscular fibres, opened so as to show the
loose interior fold or pouch.
2.—Structure of esophageal glands.
3.—Muscular fibre from pharynx.
4.—The three pairs of cesophageal glands.
5,—Earthworm opened by a dorsal incision, the transverse muscles par-
tially removed.
a. Cephalic ganglia.
6. Muscular pharynx, with attaching fibres.
ce. Ciliated tubules (segment-organs).
d. Enlarged lateral blood-vessels.
e. (sophagus.
Sf, g, i» Male organs of reproduction.
i. Gsophageal glands.
k. Crop.
l. Fibrous stomach or gizzard.
m. Intestine.
6.—Alimentary canal, removed from the other viscera.
7.—Sete, natural size 3th of an inch.
8,—Seven segments from the lower part of the body, showing the sets
natural size ird of an inch.
9.—First, second, third, and fourth segments.
10.—Crystalline body from the anterior pair of esophageal pouches.
11.—Integument of earthworm, all viscera being removed. a a. Dorsal
muscle. cc. Lateral muscles. ¢e. Ventral muscle. / Neural
canal. 4&4, Lateral setigerous glands. dd. Ventral setigerous
glands.
12.—Transverse section of integument. «. Internal epithelial layer.
b. Parasitic nematoid. ¢. Muscular layer. d. Pigmentary vascular
layer. e. Epidermis.
13.—Cells from the hepatic membrane of the intestines.

HLGiglioli, del.ad nat.

W. West, Lith®

CH |

Te)

=

Nic Journ VAL NV

Ss a
at

a)

4

Sa

x

coment

ey

V3,
“eae

ms
ia

2,

W West im

Mio Sen Va WV NS AM

Mic Sowa VA LV N.S.

AL

fl
g
2
a
F
E

Me

V.

/

abe

Sour Vd

Mie

nS ee

:
6
g
:

= age te gfe ot

JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VI,

Illustrating Mr. Archer’s paper on an Endeavour to identify
Palmoglaa macrococca (Kiitz.) with Description of the
Plant believed to be meant, and of a new Species, both,
however, referable rather to the Genus Mesotzenium
(Nag.).

1.—Mesotenium chlamydosporum, cell in which the “ chlorophyll-plate” is
not visible, by reason either of the remaining too dense contents
concealing it, or of the edge view of the plate not being towards the
observer.
2.—Cell, showing edge view of chlorophyll-plate.
3 and 4.—Accidental forms and positions of the chlorophyll-plate, edge
view.
5.—Cell about to divide; the chlorophyll-plate, seen in edge view,
divided ; its inner end bluntly rounded.
6.—Cell divided.
7.—Two cells about to conjugate.
8.—Two such cells in contact, the parent coats slipping off.
9—13.—Various degrees of advancement in conjugation.
14.—Zygospore formed, with definite mucous investment.
15—19.—Various mature zygospores.
20.—Mesotenium mirificum, cell showing edge view of chlorophyll-plate.
21—25.—Cell-conteuts emerging.
24 and 25.—Cell-contents emerged and balled together into a spore-like
body of a reddish colour.
26—31.— Various empty and discarded parent cell-membranes, showing the
valve or lid-like portion, often detached.
32.—Cosmarium exiguum (Arch.), front view of frond.

33.— . Ms side view -
34.—Penium Mooreanum (Arch.), frond, with endochrome.
35.— a 3 dividing frond.

36—38.— ,, a commencing conjugation.
39.— 5 front view of zygospore.
40.— is ‘3 side view of same.

42 —44.—__,, > variously twisted zygospores.
45 and 46.—Cosmarium pugmeun (Arch.), front view of frond.
47.— 3 3 side view of same.
48.— 2 end view of same.
49.— a x zygospore.

50. —Arthrodesmus tenuissimus (Arch.), front view of frond,

a — Pr - side view i
a a - end view *
538and54— — 5, % dividing fronds, front view.
Biase = Pe abnormal frond.

. ” ants *
Heyy LOTS OM ORME SO AY ORE
es ¥ 7
/ j | a PEELS 5
‘ ck
| 4 . c as
] :
} : pf I! >! hy rie | >
| a
’
} 3
wit Bt we
; : . Liao : baisd
+ f (as oa ;
| ;
i wi if
par
= 4
. : heen: : as ; The | senegt ati &
¢ bak Pos poe yrs
‘id - Ts are wits hs sie a i
os WER G Stat), ar ee Ae LL hui hy ot aol
we riers a an ~ nis ¢ *47eu 7 iv dupbus , bee, ‘ Bix

; de NS oe:
a F arett “ ahi bday Sis het V Wee ings gitar tha Basie
Vee algven
Adi sab strat at Dat Games artes pia
i cere st antes

wt Pred nee’ ait

eae coumate es :) ce

ae an)

gavariory! f; Coes

afeeraah

= * cca Be ; hy. dps
-. o ” eae a eee Mi
| ‘ aoeerngecsen Rakes S
\ > = Daw) ti wand pet (Aan dy' 9
/ ; “ene ty warts ints."
| | vaae Fat DT

+f ta ar | AY Gk AT OY De TN
LVNS PY
y YU

, ODF /
Mir Sow VoL LN.

fg: 54+ 2 * *

= :
W. Archer, del. W. West, hromo-Lithl
‘) . Qf
in All. the figs. are x 400. |

‘i. 5 -

Mor Sour VALV NS Pu: VIL

a .

caepeaes

3

a

ce ———L———<—< St

E Ray Lankester, del. ad nat

Tuffen West sc. W. West,imp

MIC. JOURN. VOL. IV. NEW SERIBS. PLATE VIII.

Seale, 7Hon Of an Engheh Inch 1,,.,,..,. ] X 700.

Large caudate nerve cell, with smaller cells and nerve fibres, from a thin transverse section of the lower
part of the grey matter of the medulla oblongata of a young dog. The specimen had been soaked for
some weeks in acetic acid and glycerine. The lines of dark granules resulting from the action of the acid
are seen passing through the very substance of the cell in very definite directions. Thus the cell is
the point where lines from several distant parts intersect (Diagram, Fig.2). It is probable that each
of these lines is but a portion of a complete circuit (see Diagram in Fig 3). A,A,A, large fibres which
leave the cell. B, a fibre from another cell, dividing into finer fibres, exhibiting several lines of granules.
C,C,C, fibres from a younger caudate nerve vesicle. D, fine and flattened dark-bordered fibres E, three
fine nerve fibres running together in a matrix of connective tissue. F, F,F, capillary vessele.

i S; B: del. 1863

[ Barrison’s Imvt.

wn

106 275 712

tg CE pte 4 | SCs oer EC

CECOKCERG ChE
CE CE Co CE aes Ce rg
CG rae gece eS <<“ ei

cas :
<<
Kc

Pic oe ae are

eee é < .