CHARA 



aii<l itself >liowing a minor nodal and internodal 



.j.-mriit. In all cases, from the nodal cellH 



tlier.- di\ ide oil', parallel to the outer surface of the 



., u new set of apical cells, which proceed, like 



the parent one, to form the 'leaves,' reproducing, 



(hat is to say, the stem struct un 1 , until they lose, 



tin- power of 'division, and end in a single enlarged 



:ativ cell. A l>ranrli may arise from anew 



funned ,-i|>ical cell cut off in the axil of the oldest 



leaf Hi anv wliorl, while the so-called roots, which 



li\ the plant in the mud, are simply unicellular 



hairs, lengthening* produced from the superficial 



-e!U iif lniried iHMles. 



Tin- apparently very complex and characteristic 

 re|irndiietive organs arise also at the nodes of the 

 Mem or leaves, in positions and numbers varying 

 with the species. Commencing with the female 

 (tig. 3a), which arises in the position of a branch, 



we find this to 



//,//.., A be obviously a 



_^ ffl shortened and 



/JMfifil/ j modified one. 



1 a fBS sfi Its a P ical cel1 

 ^Hl// /Q fi ins ..nly an 

 | r\ffijjj{ ./ // internode and 

 ' J node, then ceases 



division, and be- 

 comes enlarged 

 and filled with a 

 store of starch 

 and other re- 

 serve material 

 to form an egg- 

 cell ; while the 

 cover or arche- 

 gonium inclosing 

 this is readily 

 seen to be a 

 mere modifica- 



organs: tion of the fami- 



o, Mature ; 6, developing. The upper liar cortex. In 

 in each case is the female. tne ma i e a p pa . 



ratus, or anther- 



idium, the branch structure is further modified : its 

 apical cell similarly remains all but sessile, forming 

 only a short node and internode ; but segmentation 

 now begins, thus recalling the behaviour of a nodal 

 cell with which, in having below it an internodal, 

 and not as in the case of the egg-cell, a nodal cell 

 (fig. 36), it so far corresponds. Eight quadrant- 

 like cells are formed, but these now segment off 

 new cells in the interior of the spherical mass, and 

 in the growth and development of these the nodal 

 and internodal alternation of ordinary vegetative 

 growth can still be traced. Soon, however, a num- 

 ber of long segmented filaments are developed, and 

 the protoplasm of these undergoes rejuvenescence, 

 and oecomes modified into a ciliated spermatozoid. 

 When the reproductive organs are ripe, this arche- 

 gonium is easily broken, and its filaments spread 

 Free in the water ; the spermatozoids escape in a 

 myriad, and some reach the egg-cell of the arche- 

 gonium by means of a small opening, which is left 

 1>\ the all but incomplete upgrowth of the cortical 

 cells which form the wall of the archegonium. 

 After a period of rest, the fertilised ovum gerniin- 

 , ates, producing, however, not directly a new Chara 

 plant, but a simple filament of cells called a pro- 

 embryo, of which one cell segments into a node, 

 and the oldest cell of this becomes the growing 

 point of the new plant. 



The affinities and systematic position of the group 

 thus still afford ground for discussion, although now 

 within narrower limits than formerly ; some syste- 

 matists regarding them as a somewhat aberrant 

 group of Algte, while others insist on their resem- 

 blance to the archegoniate cryptogams (see VEGE- 

 TABLE KINGDOM). The fruits of what seem to 



CHARADE 



109 



Fig. 3. 



have \teen gigantic Characea* (Spirangium) occur 

 from the Carboniferous to the Wealden, and ordi- 

 nary <'harace5 are abundant in the Tertiary strata. 



- -' ' 



Characin'ida>. See SALMON ID.*. 



Characteristic. See LOGARITHMS. 



Character to Servant. The master i- under 

 no legal obligation, either in England or in Scot- 

 land, to give a character to his servant, however 

 long, faithfully, or efficiently he may have nerved 

 him ; but, if given, the character must be strictly 

 true, or, at all events, in accordance with the 

 master's belief, otherwise he may be exposed to an 

 action of damages, either by the servant whom he 

 has calumniated, or by a subsequent employer 

 whom he has deceived. If true, however, the fact 

 of its being prejudicial will expose the master to 

 no risk. In order to justify the giving of a liad 

 character, however, it must, in general, be asked 

 for by the servant, as the master is not entitled 

 needlessly to publish the servant's defects. Where 

 asked, it will lie with the servant to prove its false- 

 hood, not with the master to prove its truth. Th 

 case of the servant being known by the master to 

 have committed a felony while in his service, is, 

 however, an exception to this rule, as, in a case so 

 extreme, the master is at liberty to warn others 

 against taking him into their employment. Even 

 though strictly true, the character, if prejudicial, 

 must not be more so than the circumstances render 

 necessary. Acts of petty dishonesty, such as are 

 too common among servants, will not warrant the 

 master in branding him as a thief. The safe course, 

 in such a case, is to state the offence, and not to 

 describe it by a general epithet, which may convey 

 an erroneous impression of its magnitude. 



It is probable that, partly from thoughtless good- 

 nature, and partly from a selfish desire to get rid of 

 a bad servant in the most comfortable manner, false 

 characters are given in favour of servants very 

 much more frequently than to their prejudice. It 

 is desirable that masters and mistresses should have 

 in view that they may render themselves liable in 

 reparation of any damage which can be shown to 

 be the direct result of thus inflicting on a stranger 

 a wrong which is unquestionably within the reach 

 of the law. 



By an Act of 1816, personating a master, and thus 

 giving a false character to a servant, or asserting 

 in wnting that a servant has been hired, contrary to 

 truth ; and any person offering himself as a servant, 

 pretending to have served where he has not served, 

 or producing a false certificate, or altering a certifi- 

 cate, or pretending not to have been in any former 

 service, &c., are offences at common law, punishable 

 on conviction before two justices with a nne of 20. 



Charade* or ' syllable-puzzle ' as the Germans 

 call it, is an amusement which consists in dividing 

 a word of one or more syllables into its component 

 syllables, or into its component letters, predicating 

 something of each ; and then, having reunited tin- 

 whole, and predicated something of that also, the 

 reader or listener is asked to guess the word. As a 

 specimen of the charade depending upon syllables 

 we adduce the following : 



' My first is ploughed for various reasons, and grain is fre- 

 quently buried in it to little purpose. My wconS is neither 

 riches nor honours, yet the former would generally be given for 

 it, and the latter are often tasteless without it. My vAofc 

 applies equally to spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; and 

 both fish and flesh, praise and censure, mirth and melancholy, 

 are the better for being In it. Ans. Sea-ion.' 



As a specimen of the second class of charades, 

 we take the following happy example from the 

 French : 



Quatre membres font tout mon bien. 



Mon dernier vaut mon tout, et mon tout ne vaut rirn. 



The word is zero. It is composed of four letters, of 



