BASIDIA. 



[ 77 ] 



BATRACHOSPERMUM. 



readily so in the urinaiy tubules of the kid- 

 neys. 



In chemical composition, this membrane 

 mostly resembles elastic and not areolar 

 tissue. 



BASIDIA. See Basidiospores. 



BASIDIOSPORES.— The name apphed 

 to the acrogenous spores produced in groups 

 of fours on the hymenium of many Fungi, 

 the term basidium being applied to the four- 

 branched cell upon which they are attached. 

 Basidiospores are produced both by the Hy- 

 menomycetous and Gasteromycetous Fungi. 

 In the former they are found upon the ex- 

 ternal fruit-bearing sm-faces, such as the gills 



Fig. 53. 



r-^ 



Development of the basidiospores of 

 Hymenangium griseum. 



or vertical plates of Agarics, on the walls of 

 the tubes of Polyporus, &c. In the Gastero- 

 mycetes they are produced upon the convo- 



Fig. 54. 



Basidia and basidiospores Basidia and basidiospores 



of Melanogaster variegatus. of Octavianaasterosperma. 



Magnified 400 diameters. 



luted hymenium which occupies the interior 

 of the Fungus in the earlier stages of growth, 

 and when the spores are matm'e, the hyme- 

 nium and the basidia becoming dissolved, the 

 spores fall loose in the cavity. The basidio- 

 spores sprout out gradually from the basidia, 

 becoming soon shut off by a cross septum, 

 and in some cases they finally acquire a dense 

 and dark-coloured outer coat. 



BiBL. Berkeley, Ann. Nat. Hist. i. 81. 

 pi. 4 and 5. iv. 155. pi. 5; Leveille, Ann. 

 des Sc. nat. 2 ser. viii. 321. pi. 8-11. 



BAST or BASS. See Liber. 



BATRACHOSPERxMEiE.— A family of 

 Confervoid Algae. Brownish-green or pur- 

 plish freshwater plants; filamentous, coated 

 with gelatine. The fronds composed of ag- 

 gregated longitudinal filaments, bearing at 

 intervals whorls of short, horizontal, cvlin- 

 dj'ical or beaded, jointed ramuh. Fructifica- 

 tion : ovate spores attached to the lateral 

 ramuli, which consist of minute dichotomous 

 filaments. British genera : 



1. Batrachospermum. Lateral whorled 

 filaments beaded, spores collected in globular 

 knobs in the w horls. 



2. Thorea. Stems continuous, whorled, 

 articulated, sometimes branched, ramuli cy- 

 lindrical, the spores at their bases. 



BiBL. See these genera. 



BATRACHOSPERMUM, Roth.— A ge- 

 nus of Batrachospermeae (Confervoid Algse), 

 consisting of delicate, branched, filamentous 

 plants of green, yellow, red, or purple colour, 

 growing in clear slowlj^-running fresh water. 

 The branched axes of the plants of Batracho- 

 spermum (fig. 56) consist of rows of large 

 cylindrical cells applied end to end, and in- 

 crease in length b\ the successive transverse 



Fig. 56. 



Fig. 57. 



k.1 



'4 /" yyf^ 



i i 'y I it J^ 



Fig. 58. 



Fig. 56. Batrachospermum moniliforme. Natural size. 

 Fig. 57. A portion of an axis with whorls of branches. 



IMagnified. 

 Fig. 58. A tuft of branches with spores in the midst. 



More magnified. 

 Fig. 59. Highly magnified view of a few cells of an axis 



with nascent radiating ramules and their descending 



cortical cells. 



