ASTEROTHRIX. 



ATAX. 



deriving their name from the angular, some- 

 what stellate spores ; now shown by Tulasne 

 to be the conidiiferous state of a species of 

 Hypomyces. 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 first covered by a white fugacious 

 tomentum, with lamellae underneath ; spores 

 6-angled. On decaying Agarics (A. adustus, 

 piperatus), in autumn, gregarious. A. lyco- 

 perdioides, Dittm. Sturm's Deutsch. Fl. 



A. ly coper dioides, Fr. Stipe 1" high or 

 obsolete; head hemispherical or globose, 

 without lamellae beneath ; spores 5-6-angled. 

 In similar situations, rather more common. 

 Agaricus lijcoperdioides, Sow. 



BIBL. Hook. Br. Fl. ii. part 2. p. 322; 

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

 Fl. iii. t. 26; Bulliard, Herb. t. 166, 516, 

 fig. 1 ; Tulasne, Carpologia, iii. p. 54. 



AS'TEROTHRIX, Ktz. An obscure 

 genus of Algae. 



Char. Filaments very minute, indistinctly 

 jointed, greenish, very rigid, stellately 

 branched, acutely cuspidate at each end, 

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



3 species: freshwater. 



BIBL. Kiitzing, Phyc. 6-'ew.p.200; Raben- 

 horst, Flor. Alg. iii. p. 391 ; Perty, Kleinst. 

 Lebensf. 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 catarrh 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- 

 chiaceae (Acrocarpous Mosses), including 

 some of the Phasca of Linnaeus, &c. 



A. subulatum, Hucnp.=Phascum subida- 

 tum, L. (fig. 49). 



A. alternifolium, Hmp. = Ph. alternifo- 

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



A. nitidum, Hmp. =Ph. axiUare, Dicks. 



BIBL. Miiller, Syn. Muscor.-, Wilson, 

 JBryol. Brit. p. 24. 



ASTRORHI'ZA, Sandahl. A relatively 

 large Rhizopod, related to Lituola. Vary- 

 ing from sphaeroidal to irregularly star- 

 shaped, and having sometimes a disk ^ 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. Astomum alternifolium. 

 A leaf, showing the oellu- Section of sporange. 



lar structure. Magnified 40 diameters. 

 Magnified 40 diameters. 



extruded from between its constituent sand- 

 grains. 



BIBL. Sandahl, Ofvers. Vet.-Akad. For- 

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

 Soc. 1869, p. 289. 



ASTROSI'GA, Kt. A genus of Flagel- 

 late Infusoria. Resembling Uvella, but 

 flagellum surrounded by a hyaline collar. 



A. disjunct a : fresh water. 



BIBL. Kent, Inf. p. 341. 



ASTROTHE'LIUM, Eschw. A genus 

 of Lichenaceous Lichens. 



A. parmularia. On young oaks, very 

 rare. 



BIBL. Leighton, Lich.-Flora, p. 499. 



ATAX, Duges. A genus of Arachnida, 

 of the order Acarina, 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 very 

 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. histrionicus (Hydrachna 



