311 



DERMATOBRANCHUa 



OBSXIDIl 



: 2-0. Lustre somewhat resinous. 8j*cific gravity, 2'133. The 

 following analysis is by Ficinus : 



Silica 35-800 



Magnesia 23 700 



1'rotoxide of Iron 11-333 



1'rwtoxido of Mangnra3 .... 2-250 



Alumiu* 0-4 It! 



0-833 



Water and Carbonic A ... 25 200 



l>Ki:MATOHHANCHUS, a genus of Molluscous Animals esta- 

 blished by M. Van Hasselt, and arranged by him among the 

 .Vw/iiriiiu-Ai'i'ii. It has tho following characters: Animal de- 

 pressed, semicircular, provided with a considerably large foot, 

 and protected above by an enlarged mantle, rounded anteriorly, 

 narrowed posteriorly, beset with elongated stria* or pustules, which 

 are branchial. A pair of short, approximated, contractile teutocula 

 situated between the head and the mantle. Kyea none (?). Three 

 apertures on the right side of tho body, the anterior opening near the 

 head for the generative apparatus, the second for the vent, and the 

 third for the urinary organ. It is an inhabitant of the coast of Java. 



m:i!Mi:sTKs. [DKHMESTTD.*.] 



I'KHMK'STlll.K, Leach (from Acp/tfarqi, a moth or worm that 

 eats skins), a family of Animals belonging to the order of Coleopterous 

 Insects of the section Xccrophaya (M'Leay). They have the following 

 characters : Antenna* short, 1 1 -jointed, terminated by a compressed 

 club, consisting of 3 or 4 joints; palpi small ; mandibles short, thick, 

 and generally dentated ; head deeply inserted into the thorax ; body 

 generally oval, and more or less furnished with scales or hairs ; legs 

 short ; tarsi 5-jointed. The species of this family are for the most 

 part of small size : their larva (at least those which are known) are 

 covered with hair, and feed upon animal substances. It includes the 

 genera Dtrmetttt, Claim, Megatoma, Attagenut, Atpidiphonu, A'ogo- 

 derma, Antkrentu, G lobttlicome, Limnichtu, and Troyoderma, The 

 species of many of these genera whilst in a larva state do great 

 mischief in houses. They are especially destructive to the collections 

 of the naturalist The perfect insects are harmless, living on flowers. 

 They are found throughout Europe, Australia, Africa, and America. 



The distinguishing characters of the genus Dermttlet are : Antenna* 

 scarcely differing in the sexes ; the basal joint thick, the six following 

 joints nearly of equal size, the eighth broader than long, the ninth 

 and tenth very broad and nearly of equal size, the eleventh also broad 

 but not equal in size to the two preceding ; palpi short and thick ; 

 1. -ly uf an elongated oval shape. 



to. lardariat is about a quarter of an inch in length and uf a dull 

 black colour ; the basal half of each elytron is of an ashy tint, and 

 has three black spots. 



This insect is sometimes very abundant in houses in the neighbour- 

 hood of London and elsewhere, and when this is the case is very 

 destructive, since it will devour almost any animal substance, hut we 

 believe only in a dried state. 



to. rutpintu is about the same size as the last, from which it may 

 be distinguished by the elytra being totally black, and the sides of 

 the thorax and under parts of the body being covered with white scales. 



This insect is brought over in great abundance in ships laden with 

 hides. We have seen them in skins of quadrupeds both from India 

 snd America. The larva is about half an inch in length, and covered 

 with blackish-brown hairs. Like the perfect insect it feeds upon 

 dried skins, and hence when abundant is very destructive to this sort 

 of property. In the 14th vol. of the ' Linmcan Transactions' is a 

 notice of the occurrence of several specimens of this insect, and also 

 of another beetle (NterMa the Egyptian mummy; and 



in the ' Transactions of the Entomological Society,' vol. i., the Rev. 

 K. \V H"pe describe* several specie* of Coleopterous Insects which 

 had been found in the heads of Egyptian mummies. They are as 

 follows .Xecrobia Jfumiarium, to. ]*>liincti<>. l> I!"-'', and to. don- 

 gniiu. Accompanying these insects there were also found some frag- 

 ment* of a species of f'imelia -prolwbly the P. tpinuloia. 



It. mmrimut is also about a quarter of an inch in length, and of a 

 Made colour ; the upper parts of the head, thorax, and elytra, are 

 mottled with scales of an ashy tyit ; the scutellum is of a fulvous 

 colour ; the under part* of the body are white. 



The species is common in various part* of England, and is found in 

 dried animals which have been suspended in the open air by game- 

 keepers and other persons. 



In the genus Ctetiat (Stephen*) the two basal joint* of the antenna* 

 are thick ; the six following are nearly of equal size and rather 

 leader; the ninth joint is rather long and of an obconic form ; the 

 tenth joint is shorter than the last ; and the terminal joint U conical. 

 These three joint* form together an elongated knob. 



rro is about an eighth of an inch in length, of a black colour, 

 with yellowish antenna*. It is found under the loose bark of elm 

 trees. The larva i* covered with long hairs. 



ifeyatoma (Herbst). In thin genus the two basal joint* of the 

 antenna* are thick ; the four following are slender ; the seventh and 

 eighth joint* are larger than the last-mentioned, and the remainder 

 form an elongated elub: the terminal joint in twice as long as the 

 others in the male, and but slightly elongated in tho female. 



Atlagentii (Latrcille). Antennae with the basal joint thii-k ; the 



! less robust and shorter ; the three following joint* ! 

 the sixth, seventh, am! eighth joint" gradually increasing in size ; the 

 remainder forming a 8-jolnted club, of which the terminal joint i-, 

 extremely long and almost cylindrical in tin- male, and of an elongated 

 oval form in the female. 



A. Ptllio is about an eighth of an iin-h in length, and of a black 

 colour.; the bate of the antenna* is yellowish, and there is a roninl 

 white spot in the middle of each elytron. 



This insect is common in houses, and is very frequently found in 

 quills, upon tli.' pith ,.f whi.-h it prolmbly feeds. 



IIKUMOVHKI.'* .xiA.1 



I'KKUIAS. [1 



I-ISMAI - [DA] 



DKSMIIUK.K. a group of organised l>cings regarded by some 

 naturalists a* Animals and by others as Plants. The botanists who 

 have adopted them into tho vegetable kingdom have regarded Hi, MI 

 us Alyrr, and allieil to the JHatomnctir. Some however who tflrnit 

 the vegetable characters of Damidirtr deny them to Diatomactir. \ >r. 

 Lindley admits the /fern t(?tt as a sub-order of the l> which 



he characterises as crystalline angular fragmentary bodies, IT t 

 multiplying by spontaneous separation. Amongst this L-roup uf beings 

 the JJrsmidiett are characterised as being 'cylindrical.' Tin- Co'. 

 is the definition of thin family as given by Mr. Kiilfs in his ' I 

 Desmidieu;,' a work which has greatly increased our knowlc- 

 these obscure beings : "Freshwater figured, mucous, and micro 

 Alga, of a green colour. Transverse division mostly complete, but in 

 some genera incomplete. Cells or joints of two symmetrical valves, 

 the junction always marked by the division of the endochrom. 

 also by a constriction. Sporangia formed by the coupling of the cell* 

 and union of their contents." It will be seen from this definition that 

 Mr. Kalfs regards these beings as plants. The principal points on 

 which he relies for establishing this position are the occurrence of 

 conjugation and swarming, and the presence of starch amongst the 



The occurrence of a union or conjugation of the two filament* fur 

 tin- production of spores, has long been known amongst certain Conns 

 of Canftrrrc. This has been seen by many observers to occur an 

 VheJDttin i'li' ". In the Euatlrum rupalre (flg. 3 represents the ; 

 Niigeli describes this process. Two individuals arc placed do,-. 

 ther, and push out short processes, which meet, ami by the absorption 

 of the wall constitute a canal, into which the entire contents of the 

 two cells thus connected enter, and combine together to form our 

 mass which constitutes a single cell. This process is not alwavs 

 identical in different species. In Clotlerium (fy. 6) the middle of the 

 ,-,-ll-iin'mbrane dehisces with a transverse fissure, and the entire con- 

 tents from two contiguous opened cells coalesce into a single round or 

 angular mass. Siebold cays, with regard to the spores or green bodies 

 which result from the union of the cells, that they are not in all cases 

 developed into a single Clottrrium, like spores ; but that, as in the case 

 of other Algtr, such as Vaacktria and (Kdogoniwn, there are two sorts 

 of spore-formations, and that under certain circumstances these green 

 bodies represent a germ, capsule, or sporangium. in which, by a pro- 

 cess of division, several young Clottrria come to be perfected. The 

 union of the cells of 2)idymopri*m Borreri is seen in .';/. 1. 



The process above described appears to be one entirely confined to 

 the vegetable kingdom, as it has never been obsen -i uni- 



cellular organisms, which are regarded as decidedly animal. 



The process of swarming is one which, although a few yean ago 

 its distinguishing feature would have been regarded as entitling the 

 organism exhibiting it to a place in tin- animal kingdom, is by Mr. 

 Half* ami other Knglish naturalists regarded as purely vegetable. It 

 has been observed in many species of Canftrtatttr, more especially in 

 Arhlya proli/tra [Acin.v.i] and Conferva trrea. The follow 

 M. Agardb's account of this curious phenomenon in the latter plant. 

 After describing the green matter in the joints, he says : " The 

 granules of which it is composed detach themselves from the mass 

 one afW another, and having thus become free they move about in 

 the vacant space of the joint with an extreme rapidity. At the same 

 time the exterior membrane of the joint is observed to swell i 

 point till it there forms a little mamilla, which is to become i h.- point 

 from which the moving granules finally issue. Uy the e\toM> 

 the membrane for -.n of the mamilla, the tender fi) 



whieh it is composed separating, cause an opening at the end of the 

 mamilla, ami it is by this passage that the granules escape. At first 

 they issue hi a body, but noon those which remain, swimming j n a 

 mu. -h larger space, have much more difficult.*. .1 it is 



only after innumerable knocking* (titubations) against, the walls of 

 their prison that they luccred in finding an exit. From the. first 

 instant of the motion, one observes that the granules or spornle* are 

 furnished with a little beak, a kind of anterior process alwu\ 

 tinpuishable from the body of the xporule by its paler colour. 

 on the vibrations of this beak that the motion, UK 1 conceive, de|. 

 at least I have never been able to discover any < ilia. M.-v.,-..,- \ w ill 

 not venture to deny the existence of these ; for with a very high )>ower 

 | of a compound in "lie sees the granules sun-nun. li (! with a 



i hyaline border, as we find among the cil -'IT'ying n 



glass of insufficient power. The sporulcn during their motion always 



