March 1, 1S66.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



59 



mounted at the apes by a teat-like projection 

 (fig. 68, a), the centre of which is ultimately perfo- 

 rated, so that its contents may escape. If a section 



l£\ 



Fig. 6S. Spheeria herburum. 



a. Perithecium. b. Section of ditto, magnified slightly. 

 c. Ascus, with unisetiate spores, d. Ascus, with biseriate 

 spores and paraphyses x 320. 



be made of this little black bottle (fig. 6S, b), or 

 the top sliced off with a sharp knife, the interior will 

 be found occupied by a minute drop of jelly — this is 

 the nucleus. Dig it out with a needle, or a sharp- 

 pointed penknife, and place it in a drop of water on 

 your glass-slide, cover it with thin glass, then press 

 gently, at the same time moving the cover a little, 

 so as to separate the nucleus sufficiently for the light 

 to pass through it. Now examine your little drop 

 of jelly with a quarter-inch power, and you will find 

 that it is not the mere gelatine which you may have 

 supposed. There will be seen cylindrical transparent 

 bags, or asci, each containing eight beautiful 

 amber-coloured spores (figs, e, d). Earlier stages 

 of the asci will show merely a granular mass. Beside 

 these bodies long hyaline threads will accompany 

 the asci, which are the paraphyses (fig. d.) The 

 asci are themselves delicate and easily ruptured, 

 when the spores will appear scattered over the field, 

 mixed, probably, with some perfect asci. The 

 arrangement of spores is very variable in this species, 

 as well as the form. In most instances they are 

 oblong, a little narrowed in the middle, with the 

 endochrome, or internal substance, curiously divided 

 in a muriform manner. At first they are colourless, 

 but, as they approach to maturity, assume a bright 



amber-colour, and escape from the ascus and the 

 perithecium, or little black bottle, through the minute 

 orifice at its apex, in order to fulfil their mission to 

 " increase and multiply, and replenish the earth." 



Having examined this object, and being desirous 

 of preserving the little stick with its remaining spots 

 for examination, five or ten years hence, if need be, 

 let it become quite dry, and put it in a drawer till 

 you require it. When about to examine a specimen 

 which has thus been preserved for an indefinite 

 period, all that is requisite is to soak it in water for 

 an hour or two (all night will do it no harm). This 

 will render the nucleus, which had dried up, as 

 gelatinous as ever ; or, if not, then remove one of 

 the pcrithecia entire, but without any adherent 

 tissue, place it in your drop of water, break it with 

 the point of your knife, cover, and examine as before. 



To mount such a specimen is easy enough. Let 

 the water be replaced by a drop of spirit ; when this 

 has evaporated, add your drop of diluted glycerine, 

 or balsam, dissolved in chloroform, and cover. No 

 cells are requisite. Generally the balsam renders 

 the asci too transparent. Glycerine, or Deane's 

 gelatine, though not used with equal facility, is 

 preferable in the majority of instances. 



We have two hundred species of this group in 

 Great Britain, some with exceedingly beautiful 

 spores ; and they have the advantage of being found 

 everywhere during the dullest season in the year, 

 and may be picked up and put in the pocket with 

 no other apparatus than an earnest mind and a 

 willing hand. M. C. C. 



N.B. Specimen of the above will be forwarded on 

 receipt of stamped and directed envelope, to be sent 

 during the current month, to the office of this Journal. 



Correct Written Descriptions equalling 

 Pictorial Representations. — " Sir Walter Scott 

 tells us, that Nature having denied Mr. Croftangry 

 a pencil, he endeavoured to make words answer the 

 purpose of delineation. I almost think, though 

 fancy may be equally expansive in both cases, that 

 if one has any general knowledge of the subject, a 

 particular description of any of the variously-formed 

 objects of nature would ensure as good a distinctive 

 resemblance as if drawn pictorially from life. The 

 only exception is the human race, in which nature, 

 having arrived at the extreme Hunts of animal com- 

 position, illustrated by there being absolutely the 

 same number and quality of the external organs in 

 every tribe, the chef-d'oeuvre of her works may, 

 perhaps, be better expressed by portrait than by 

 description ; but all the other objects of animated 

 nature, even in the same division, differ so exceed- 

 ingly from each other— for example, in the present 

 case, the Moltusca,— that descriptive notes may pos- 

 sibly be preferable to artistical representation." — 

 Clark's " British Marine Testaceous Moltusca." 



