ADJUTANT. 



^ECIDIUM. 



The same point is also clearly shown by contrasting the ultimate 

 composition of starch and fat. 



Starch. Human Fat. (Chevreul.) 



Carbon . . . 44'91 . . . 79'00 



Hydrogen . . 6'11 . . . 11-42 



Oxygen . . . 48'98 . . . 9'58 



As we are not acquainted with any constituent of plants which can 

 take up the oxygen thus liberated in the formation of fat, we must 

 regard this as one of the sources of the oxygen given off by plants. 

 Mulder has given the following scheme as illustrative of the mode in 

 which starch may possibly be converted into fat or oil in the vegetable 

 kingdom : 



C H O 



To 7 equiv. of starch . . . . 84 70 70 

 Add 8 equiv. of water ... 88 



And we have 



Which are equal to 

 1 equiv. of margaric acid 



1 equiv. of oleic acid 



2 equiv. of oxide of lipyle 

 69 equiv. of oxygen 



Making as before 



84 78 78 



34 34 3 



44 40 4 



642 



69 



84 78 78 



As to the mode in which fat is deposited, there is reason to believe 

 that it is immediately formed out of the blood, without any glandular 

 apparatus for secreting it, by the capillary arteries of the adipose 

 vesicles. By chemical analysis, the materials of fat, like those of all 

 the other secretions, are fouud to be contained in the blood. 



As diffused over the body, the adipose membrane consists of masses 

 which vary considerably in their magnitude and shape. In some 

 places they are rounded, in others pear-shaped, and in the median line 

 of the abdomen, egg-shaped. The distribution of the membrane is 

 exceedingly unequal. There is, in general, a considerable layer imme- 

 diately beneath the skin ; and especially between the skin and the 

 abdominal muscles, where it occasionally accumulates in enormous 

 masses. Between-the folds of the membranes which form the omentum 

 and mesentery there is usually a large quantity ; also around the 

 heart and the kidneys ; on the face, and especially on the cheeks, and 

 in the orbita of the eyes ; in the palms of the hands, the soles of the 

 feet ; the pulp of the fingers and toes, the flexures of the joints, the 

 fibres of muscles, and the sheath of vessels. In most of these organs 

 it never entirely disappears, whatever be the degree of leanness to 

 which the body may be reduced ; while in the cranium, the brain, the 

 eye, the ear, the nose, and several other organs, there is none, what- 

 ever be the degree of corpulency. 



The functions of the adipose tissue are manifold and apparent. 



1. It fills up interstices, and acts as a kind of pad or cushion for the 

 protection of organs which would be otherwise injured by the move- 

 ments of the body ; so essential does, it appear in some parts that 

 rvrii where there is great emaciation it does not wholly disappear. 



2. By its non-conducting power it assists in maintaining the heat of 

 the body when exposed to external cold. It is found in immense 

 quantities in the animals inhabiting the Arctic Seas, as in the whale 

 tribe, and also in all animals living in the colder parts of the earth. 



3. It acts as a storehouse for fuel during times of necessity. Some 

 animals are exposed to a want of combustible food in the winter time, 

 and they accordingly become fat in the autumn, and are thus supplied 

 with material for maintaining their animal heat. It is well known 

 that fats are amongst the most important agents of food by which 

 animal heat is maintained. Animals that hybemate depend solely for 

 their existence upon the fat deposited in their bodies, which is 

 gradually consumed during hybernation. 4. The presence of fat 

 neems to favour the development of protein tissues. It is always 

 found in the ova of animals before the embryo is formed. The 

 administration of oils in certain diseases attended with emaciation, as 

 in phthim, has been found most beneficial, and appears to act favour- 

 ably, by assixtinK the development of protein tissues. 



(Lehmann, Plii/xiulw/ii -"I ''//. mlxlry; Kcilliker, Uandluch der Gev>ebe- 

 Lehrt ; Carpenter's Principle! uf P/iytwloyi/.) 



ADJUTANT. [CRANKS.] 



AI)i t'XIS, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Ranun- 

 "% and containing many species of very great beauty. The name 

 i- merely poetical. Adimw is distinguished from Ranuncidit* by the 

 want of a little scale at the base of the petals, and from other genera 

 of the order by the numerous hard, dry, sharp-pointed grains of which 

 iU fniit consists. 



Botanists divide the genus into two sections, the first of which 

 'fhends all the annual kinds, the second all the perennials. Ten 

 species are spoken of as belonging to the first section, inhabiting corn- 

 fields and similar dry exposed places, chiefly in the south of Kurope 

 and north of Africa. Some of them have deep crimson flowers, as 

 .1 . niiiitinnnlit, the common Pheasant's-Eye of our gardens ; in others 

 lossoms arc yellow : it is not improbable that they are all varieties 

 of the game species. 



< M 1 til.' |x-rennial kinds, A. vernaiu, which is common in gardens in 

 England, is found in a wild state abundantly on all the mountains 



of middle Europe. Its flowers have from ten to twelve petals of a 

 yellow colour, and of a brilliancy which is rendered the more dazzling 

 by the deep green tuft of finely-divided leaves among which they 

 expand. It is only a few inches high, and is one of the early har- 

 bingers of spring. Three others are described, all mountain plants, 

 resembling A. vernal is in general appearance, but perhaps still more 

 beautiful. They seem to have been occasionally brought to this 

 country, but to have been soon lost again. 



Nothing has been remarked as to the sensible properties of these 

 plants ; they doubtless partake of the acridity so prevalent in their 

 tribe. 



ADO'XA, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Araliacece. 

 The only species of this genus is the A. Moschatellina, which is a little 

 inconspicuous plant found in woods and grovea in all parts of Europe. 

 It is common at Charlton and Hampstead, near London, and in many 

 other spots in England. 



From a granular root, which when dry is white as snow, arise, early 

 every spring, a few leaves about four or five inches high, divided into 

 three principal divisions, each of which is also three-leaved, with every 

 lobe deeply cut into roundish segments. The stem that supports the 

 flowers has two opposite leaves, like those of the root, only they have 

 a short stalk, and consist of but three leaflets. The flowers have a 

 musky smell, are pale green, and are collected in little round heads. 

 Each one consists of a superior calyx of five lobes ; there are no petals ; 

 the stamens are ten ; the styles five ; and the ovarium contains five 

 cells. This last changes to a succulent berry, having five compressed 

 seeds. 



In English this is called Moschatel ; it is a pretty, interesting plant, 

 much sought after by the curious for the sake of its delicate, modest 

 appearance. No known properties belong to it. 



ADULABIA, a synonym of Felspar. [FELSPAR.] 



^ECI'DIUM, a genus of minute parasitic plants belonging to the 

 natural order fungi, found in great abundance in this aud other 

 northern countries. By some modern writers it has been combined 

 with Uredo and others ; but it appears distinctly characterised by its 

 peridium, or enveloping membrane, having a tubular form, and being 

 altogether distinct from the cuticle of the plant on which it grows. 



The species are universally parasitic upon the leaves or flowers or 

 bark of living plants, where they are generated beneath the cuticle 

 Their structure is of the most simple kind ; consisting of nothing more 

 than a little mass of excessively minute sporules, or reproductive 

 particles, much smaller than the finest sand, inclosed in a thin bag, of 



1. JEcidium canceHatum, on a leaf, natural sire. 1. Peridia, magnified. 

 3. JEcid'mm Serbcriilis, natural size. 4. Peridia, magnified. 5. Sporules. 



either a fibrous or reticulated structure, which in time pierces the 

 cuticle under which it lies, gradually assumes a tubular appearance, 

 and finally bursts at the apex for the purpose of enabling the sporules 

 to escape. 



