SARCONYSSUS. 



[ 675 ] 



SARCOSCYPIIUS. 



vacuoles becomes darker, and the centre of 

 tlie fi-lobules becomes brighter ; whilst on 

 approximating the object-glass, the reverse 

 takes place. The spontaneously produced 

 cavities continue to enlarge and increase 

 in numbers, until some of the globules 

 appear perforated in all directions. Ulti- 

 mately the globules become so altered by 

 the action of the water, that they form a 

 thin granular or wrinkled layer, resembling 

 coagidated albumen. 



The protoplasm of vegetable cells corre- 

 sponds to the sarcode of animal structures. 

 In certain cells it exists in two forms as 

 regards density, the outer portion being 

 firmer than |tlie inner; or it .may become 

 entirely liquid. In many of the lower 

 organisms, and probably most cells in their 

 youngest state, it is glutinous, and in the 

 former, permanently remains so. 



^^'hen existing in cells and the lowest 

 animals, it appears to constitute the essen- 

 tial part of their structm-e, and is capable 

 of performing all the functions carried on 

 by the tissues of the higher or more per- 

 fect organisms. It also appears that the 

 cell-theory, in so far as it attributes the 

 principal importance to the cell-wall, is 

 founded upon error — the cell-wall merely 

 forming a protection to the sarcode or pri- 

 mordial utricle of plants, and the sarcode, 

 or protoplast as it might be called, of ani- 

 mals, enabling them to carry on their 

 essential functions uninterrupted by sur- 

 rounding influences (1st Ed. 1856). 



BiBL. Dujardin, Infus. p. 36. 



SARCONYS'SUS, Kol.— A genus of 

 Ixodea, with the terminal joint of the 

 palpi rounded or oval ; 4 species ; on bats. 

 (Kolenati, Siiz. Ah. Wien, 1860, 576 ; Mur- 

 ray, Ec. Ent. 195.) 



SARCOPSILLUS, Westw.— A genus of 

 Aphauiptera. One species, on the fowl. 

 (Westwood, £■«/. Mn.Mag. 1875, xi. 246.) 



SARCOP'TERUS,Nitzsch.— Asubgeuus 

 of Sarcoptes. In the two anterior pau-s of 

 legs, the suckers are replaced by claws, and 

 in the posterior bv hairs. »S'. nidulans, in 

 birds. (Murrav, Ec Ent. 314.) 



SARCOP'TES, Latr.— A genus of Arach- 

 nida, of the order Acarina, and family Acarea. 



It is, by some authors, considered a family, 

 being divided into several genera, as Sarcop- 

 tes, Symhistes, Sarcopterus, Myobia, Oto- 

 nyssus, Ltstrop/iortcs, Myocojiies, and Der- 

 Dialeichus. 



S. scabiei (Acarus scabiei, PI. 6. tig. 16) ; 

 the itch-insect of man. 



Body soft, white, oval-oblong or rounded ; 

 ventral surface witli transverse and undula- 

 ting ruga3 ; dorsal surface with marginal 

 irregidarly concentric rugaj, the central 

 space with numerous short and conical pa- 

 pillie and stouter but short protuberances 

 or spines arising from an annidar base ; at 

 the sides and upon the surface of the body 

 are also scattered setse. Head smaU, some- 

 what narrowed in front ; mandibles toothed. 

 Anterior two pairs of legs separated from 

 the posterior by a considerable interval ; 

 legs short, the anterior two pairs with aceta- 

 bula or adhesion-disks and tive-jointed, the 

 posterior three-jointed, the last joint termi- 

 nated by a long seta and without acetabula. 

 Length of female 1-100 to 1-75". 



The females burrow in the skin, in which 

 the oval eggs, 1-120" in length, are laid; 

 these are hatched in about ten days, and 

 the yormg have only six legs. 



Male only about half the size of the 

 female, and with acetabula to the hinder- 

 most pair of legs. 



The irritation produced by these mites 

 and their ova is the cause of the itch. 



They shoidd be searched for at the end of 

 one of the red streaks or burrows, which are 

 often visible to the naked eye ; the ova are 

 frequently present in the pustides. They 

 are most easily found by examining the 

 skin with a power of fifty to seventy dia- 

 meters, attached to a firm but moveable 

 arm, and with the aid of a good bull's-eye 

 condenser. 



The entii'e animals may be preserved in 

 glycerine or solution of chloride of calcium ; 

 the parts of the mouth should be dried and 

 mounted in Canada balsam. 



Other varieties or species occur upon ani- 

 mals, as the dromedary, the chamois, the 

 dog, sheep, rabbit, kc, 



BiBL. Bourguignon, Traite de la Gale 

 (abstract in Ed. Monthly Journ. 1852, Ix.) ; 

 Gervais, Walckenaer^s Insect., Apt. iii. 2G8, 

 and Ann. Sc. Nat. xv. 9 ; Hering, Kriitz- 

 milhen d. Thieve, Nov. Act. xviii. 573 ; Du- 

 ges, A)in. Sc. Nat. 2. iii. 245 ; Fiirstenberg, 

 Kratzmilhen ; Murray, Ec. Ent. 291; Meg- 

 niu. Paras. 158. 



SARCOS'CYPHUS, Corda.— Agenus of 

 Jinigermanniese ( Hepaticpe) . »S'. Ehrharti 

 (Jif/iy. enianjinata, Ehrh.) is a remai'kable 

 species, of dark purple, almost black colour, 

 growing frequently in wet places, on rocks 

 of mountainous districts. 



BiBL. Hook. Brit. Flur. ii. pt. 2. p. ]14; 

 Brit. Juny. pi. 27; Ekart, Synops. Jung. 



2x2 , 



