BAST. 



'[ 93 ] BATRACHOSPERMUM. 



and the basidia becoming dissolved, the 

 spores fall loose in the cavity. The basidio- 

 spores sprout out gradually from the basidia, 

 becoming soon shut off' by a cross septum ; 

 and in some cases they finally acquire a 

 dense and dark-coloured outer coat. 



BIBL. Berkeley, Ann. N. H. i. 81, pi. 4 

 and 5, iv. loo, pi. 5; Le"veille, Ann. Sc. Nat. 

 2 ser. yiii. 391, pi. 8-11 j Tulasne, Fungi 

 Hypogai, passim. 



BAST or BASS. See LIBEB. 



BATARRE'A, Pers. A singular genus 

 of Trichogastres (Gasteromycetous Fungi), 

 characterized by a universal gelatinous volva, 

 and a hat-shaped receptacle seated on the 

 top of a tall stem. 



B. phalloides is occasionally found in Eng- 

 land, but only in a very few localities, either 

 in sand or in the dusty residue in the inside 

 of hollow trees. 



BIBL. Sow. t. 330 ; Berk. Out. p. 290. 



BATHYS'IPHON, Sars. A delicate 

 thread-like srjicular Foraminifer. 



B.jiliformis. In the Bay of Biscay and 

 the Norwegian fjords ; length 1" and more. 



BIBL. Sars, Vidensk. Selsk. Furhandl. 

 1871, p. 251. 



BATONE'US, Kirch. A doubtful genus 

 of Phytoptidi-e ; found on the roots of Popu- 

 lus tremula. See PHYTOPTID.E. 



BATRACHOSPER'MEyE. Afamilyof 

 Confer void (?) Algaa. Brownish-green or 

 purplish freshwater plants ; filamentous, 

 coated with gelatine. The fronds composed 

 of aggregated longitudinal filaments, bear- 

 ing at intervak whorls of short, horizontal, 

 cylindrical or beaded, jointed ramuli. Dioa- 

 cious. Fructification : ovate spores attached 

 to the lateral ramuli, which consist of mi- 

 nute dichotomous filaments. British genera : 



Batrachospermum. Lateral whorled ra- 

 muli beaded ; spores collected in globular 

 knobs in the whorls. 



Thorea. Stems continuous, whorled, ar- 

 ticulated, sometimes branched, ramuli cy- 

 lindrical, the spores at their bases. 



BIBL. See these genera. 



BATRACHOSPER'MUM,Roth. Age- 

 nusof Batrachospermeae (Confervoid Algae), 

 regarded by Thuret and A. Braun as refer- 

 able to the Florideaa ; consisting of delicate, 

 branched, filamentous plants of green, yel- 

 low, red, or purple colour, growing in clear 

 slowly running fresh water. The branched 

 axes of the plants of Batrachospermum (fig. 

 56) consist of rows of large cylindrical cells 

 applied end to end, and increase in length 

 by the successive transverse cell-division of 



the terminal dome-shaped cell. While the 

 cells or joints of the axes are still young, 

 they send oft' a number of radiating pro- 

 cesses, which soon become cut off" by septa, 

 so as to constitute distinct cells, and then 

 elongate and ramify so as to form the 

 whorls of articulated ramules (fig. 59), 

 which at length become very dense (fig. 

 57). From the basal cells of these branches 



Fig. 56. 



Fig. 57. 



Fig. 56. Batrachospermum moniliforme. Natural size. 



Fig. 57. A portion of an axis with whorls of branches. 

 Magnified. 



Fig. 58. A tuft of branches with spores in the midst. 

 More magnified. 



Fig. 59. Highly magnified view of a few cells of an axis 

 with nascent radiating ramules and their descend- 

 ing cortical cells. 



secondary branches grow down perpendicu- 

 larly over the cell of the main axis imme- 

 diately below (fig. 59), forming at length a 

 kind of rind over it. This differs from the 

 analogous structure in Char a, in the fact that 

 there branches grow up as well as down 

 from each articulation of the axis, and meet 

 halfway. Some of the ramules which grow 

 out free become fertile, and produce spores 

 at their extremities, while others grow out 

 into transparent capillary points. 



The spores are produced in large numbers 

 in each tuft, forming an agglomerated heap 

 (fig. 58) at each articulation. The branches 

 of the main axis are produced by lateral 

 budding of its cells, just above and as it 

 were in the axils of the smaller whorled 



