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Plates XVI., XVII, XVIII. 



Marine Diatoms, in situ (Plate XVI., Figs, i — 5). — This slide 

 may be likened to a thoroughly good girl — homely at first sight, 

 but constantly revealing new beauties as you seek to study her 

 character. It shows some points in structure which I have never 

 seen so well displayed before, and is worth many times over the 

 fancy things got up as " Selected Diatoms " to show the skill of 

 the mounter. There are five species present, which are named. 

 It is interesting to reflect that all these thousands of Synedra and 

 Cocconeis may by gemmation have come from a single individual 

 in each case, united for a time by, and subsequently pushed apart 

 through, the development of a protoplasmic investment. As we 

 survey their countless numbers, we can only liken them to the 

 leaves on a tree. It has been well said that Nature does her 

 greatest works through the agency of the smallest instruments. 

 We have here an apt illustration of it. 



Hairs of Viburnum Lantana (PI. XA^L, Fig. 7, Mealy 

 Guelder Rose) make a very interesting slide of a class which is, 

 so far, new to our circulating boxes. Stellate hairs are mostly 

 sessile. In the example before us, however, the stellulas are evi- 

 dently seated on low stalks I hope the owner of this slide will 

 pursue the study of " Plant-Hairs " systematically. It is one 

 which, worked out seriatm, will yield results both interesting and 

 valuable. I remember noticing with surprise hairs of not less 

 than five well-marked types on the flower of the Snapdragon, 

 Antirrhimun majus. A good summary of the subject will be 

 found in the " Micrographic Dictionary," and scattered notes on 

 it in various places in Science Gossip. 



Caprella linearis (PI. XVI., Fig. 6) belongs to the Order 

 Lccviodipoda among the Crustacea. The specimen here is a male. 

 The abdominal leaflets, in the female, form a marsupium or pouch, 

 in which, as with many other Crustaceans, the ova are borne, and 

 to which the young retreat when alarmed till they are able to shift 

 for themselves. Rymer Jones ("Outlines," p. 388, ed. 1861) 

 instances this as one of the most completely annulose forms 

 amongst the Crustacea. In Routledge's " Popular Natural His- 

 tory " (p. 628), the editor, the Rev. J. G. Wood, gives the follow- 

 ing very interesting extract from Gosse, after remarking on 

 CaprcUa linearis, or the Mantis shrimp : — " There are several 

 species belonging to this genus, and all possess similar habits. 

 Their bodies are, indeed, skeleton-like in their bony lankness, but 



