ASTEROTIIRIX. 



[ 80 ] 



ATAX. 



deriving their name from the anguLir, sonie- 

 -\vhat steUate spores ; now shown by Tidasne 

 to be the conidiiferous state of a species of 

 Ilifpomyces. Two British species : 



A. agaricoides, Fr. Stipe solid, 1" high, 

 1'" or more thick, villous, bearing a head, 

 at first hemispherical, then plane, about 1-2" 

 wide, at lirst covered by a white fugacious 

 tonientum. with lamell;T3 uuderneatli ; spores 

 G-angled. On decaying Agarics {A. adustns, 

 pipi'ratus), in autumn, gregarious. A. li/co- 

 perdioidi-s, Dittm. Sturm s Deutsch. Fl. 



A. hjcoperdioides, Fr. Stipe 1'' high or 

 obsolete; head hemispherical or globose, 

 witliout lamelloe beneath ; spores 5-6-angled. 

 In similar situations, rather more common. 

 Ayaricus h/coperdioides. Sow. 



BiBL. Hook. Br. Ft. ii. part 2. p. 322; 

 Sowerby, Fungi, t. 279; Sturm, Deutsehl. 

 Fl. iii/t. 26; BuUiard, Herb. t. 166, 516, 

 fig. 1 ; Tulasne, C(irpolo(/ia, iii. p. 54. 



AS'TEROTHRIX, Ktz. — An obscure 

 genus of Algaj. 



Char. Filaments very minute, indistinctly 

 iointed, greenish, very rigid, stellately 

 branched, acutely cuspidate at each end, 

 floating; A. Pertyana (PL 3. fig. 5). 



3 species : fresh water. 



BiBL. Kiitzing, P/(yc. (?en.p.2O0; Eaben- 

 horst, Flor. Aly. iii. p. 391 ; Perty, Klcinst. 

 Lehensf. p. 216. 



AStH'MATOS, Salisb.— A genus of 

 Cilio-flagellate Infusoria. 



Char. Free, rounded, with an anterior 

 bundle of cilia, and a flagelliform filament. 



A. ciliaris (PL 53. fig. 9). In the mucus 

 of the eyes, nose, and throat, in catiirrh and 

 hay-fever ; length 1-1200". Probably the 

 ciliated epithelium covering the mucous 

 membranes of these passages. 



Kent, Inf. p. 466. 



AS'TOMUM, Hampe.— A genus of Bru- 

 chiacese (Acrocarpous Mosses), including 

 some of the Phasca of Linnfeus, &c. 



A. suhulatum, Hmp. = PA«sc«»i suhida- 

 tum, L. (fig. 49). 



A. alternifoUum, Hmp. = Ph. alternifo- 

 lium, Dicks, Crypt, (fig. 50). 



A. nitidum, \l\n.^.= Ph. axiUarCj Dicks. 



BiBL. Miiller, Syn. Muscor. ; Wilson, 

 Bryol. Brit. p. 24. 



ASTRORHI'ZA, SandahL— A relatively 

 large Rhizopod, related to Lituola. Vary- 

 ing from sphseroidal to irregularly star- 

 shaped, and having sometimes a disk J inch 

 broad, besides radii or digitated branches. 

 Its test is arenaceous and thick, without 

 any large aperture, the pseudopodia being 



Fig. 49. 



Fig. 50. 



Astomum subulatum. 

 A leaf, showing the cellu- 

 lar structure. 

 Magnified -10 diameters. 



Astomum alternifolium. 



Section of sporange. 

 Magnified 40 daametera. 



extruded from between its constituent sand- 

 grains. 



BiBL. Sandahl, Of vers. Vef.-Akad. For- 

 handl. 1857, p. 299; Carpenter, Pr. Boy. 

 Soc. 1869, p. 289. 



ASTROSI'GA, Kt.— A genus of Flagel- 

 late Infusoria. Resembling TJvdla, but 

 flagellum surrounded by a hyaline collar. 



A. diyuncta : fresh water. 



BiBL. Kent, Inf. p. 341. 



ASTROTHE'LIUM, Eschw.— A genus 

 of Lichenaceous Lichens. 



A. parmidaria. On young oaks, very 

 rare. 



BiBL. Leighton, Lich.-Flura, p. 499. 



ATAX, Duges. — A genus of Arachuida, 

 of the order Acariua, and family Hydrachnea. 



Char. Body ovoid ; a genital fissure bor- 

 bered by two plates, upon each of which 

 are three transparent rounded tubercles ; 

 anterior coxae posteriorly in contact in the 

 median line, wedging the labium between 

 them anteriorly ; the two groups of posterior 

 coxae distant; fourth coxa very broad, in 

 contact with the third throughout its whole 

 length; palpi with the fourth joint veiy 

 long, attenuate-, slightly excavated towards 

 the end to receive the fifth joint in a state 

 of extreme flexion; fifth joint forming a 

 pointed claw ; mandibles consisting of a 

 thick body cut off^obliquely like the point 

 of a pen posteriorly, truncate anteriorly, 

 and terminated by a large, strong, and 

 slightly curved claw ; labium oval, concave 

 and bifid, 



Several species, of various brilliant colours. 



A, hidrionicus (^Hydrachna histrionica, 



