CULTIVATION. 



[ 221 ] 



CURCUMA. 



obtaining nourishment. The thorax is fur- 

 nished with "bundles of feathery hairs ; the 

 abdomen is long, nearly cylindrical, much 

 narrower than the front parts of the body, 

 and divided into ten segments, the eighth 

 of which is furnished with a long respiratory 

 air-tube, terminated by a small star ; the 

 last joint is terminated by setae, and by five 

 conical slender plates. 



After several moultings, the larvae are 

 transformed into pupae, which also move 

 about with agility by means of the tail and 

 two terminal swimming organs. In this 

 state they take no food ; and the position in 

 which they suspend themselves in the water 

 is the reverse of that previously assumed, 

 i. e. the head is upwards. The respiratory 

 organs consist of two air-tubes placed upon 

 the thorax ; and the body is much curved. 

 The final transformation takes place in three 

 or four weeks, the exuviae of the pupa serv- 

 ing as a raft, upon which the insect remains 

 until its wings are extended. 



BIBL. Westwood, Introd. 507 ; Robineau 

 Desvoidy, Mem. Soc. cTHist. N. iii. 1827, 

 390 ; Stephens, Zool. Jn. i. ; Curtis, Brit. 

 Entom. xii. 537; Macquardt, Dipt. (Suites 

 it Buff ^ ; Walker, Insect. Brit., Dipt. iii. 242. 



CULTIVATION or CULTURE. This 

 term has recently been used in a specific 

 sense, to signify the growth of the Schizo- 

 mycetes, such as Bacterium, Bacillus, &c., 

 in artificial liquids. It has been observed, 

 that when these organisms reproduce them- 

 selves in organized bodies, the reproduction 

 takes place by simple vegetative division. 

 But when grown in the artificial soils, with 

 free exposure to air, they produce new forms 

 and give rise to spores. At the same time, 

 in the case of those Bacteria &c. which are 

 the origin of specific diseases, their viru- 

 lence is found to be destroyed ; and on in- 

 oculation, instead of the original virulent 

 disease being produced, a mild form of the 

 same, which exerts a protective influence, 

 is the result. 



Several cultivation-liquids have been 

 used, among which the following may be 

 mentioned. Pasteur's liquid, composed of 

 phosphate of potash 2 pts., phosphate of 

 lime 1 2, sulphate of magnesia '2, tartrate of 

 ammonia 10, sugar-candy 150, and water 

 857 pts. ; or tartrate of ammonia 1 pt., 

 yeast-ash 1, distilled water 100 pts. Cohn's 

 liquid consists of 1 pt. phosphate of potash, 

 1 sulphate of magnesia, 2 tartrate of am- 

 monia, and '1 of chloride of calcium in 200 

 pts. of distilled water. These liquids should 



be thoroughly sterilized by boiling before 

 use, and should be kept in stoppered 

 bottles. More recently, the cut surface of 

 a potato, or beetroot, has been used as a 

 cultivation-bed ; also a layer of gelatine so 

 saturated with water as just to solidify on 

 cooling. In these experiments, it has been 

 found that there is no transition of forms, 

 at least among the pathogenous Schizomy- 

 cetes ; a micrococcus producing micrococci, a 

 bacillus bacilli, and a spirillium spirillia 

 only. 



BIBL. See SCHIZOMYCETES ; Maddox, 

 M. M. Jn. 1870, iii. 14 j Koch, Qu. Mic. 

 Jn. xvii. 87, and xxi. 650 ; Lister, ibid, xviii. 

 191 j Klebs, Rep. Intern. Med. Cong., 

 Times, Aug. 8, 1881 j Pasteur, ibid. Aug. 

 9, 1881. 



CUNEOLINA, D'Orb. A Textularian 

 Foraminifer, extremely compressed trans- 

 versely to the usual direction of the com- 

 pression in Textularia. 



Rare in the Lower Cretaceous forma- 

 tion. 



BIBL. D'Orbigny, For. Foss. Vien. 1846; 

 Carpenter, Introd. For. 193. 



CUPRESSIN'EvE. A suborder of Coni- 

 ferae (Gymnospermous Flowering Plants), 

 distinguished from the Abietineae by the 

 erect ovules and spheroidal pollen-grains. 

 Further particulars will be found under 

 CONIFER JE and WOOD. 



CURCU'LIO, Linn. A genus of Coleo- 

 pterous Insects of the family Curculionidaa 

 (weevils). 



Curculio imperialis, the diamond-beetle, 

 is well known on account of the splendid 

 colours which its elytra exhibit. Many 

 other members of this family present co- 

 lours almost equally brilliant. These colours 

 are produced mainly by the action of minute 

 scales upon the incident light. See SCALES 

 OF INSECTS. 



The oral organs of the Curculionidaa are 

 curiously placed at the end of an elongated 

 rostrum which represents the head, and 

 to the sides of which the antennae are at- 

 tached. 



BIBL. Westwood, Introd. ; Stephens, 

 British Beetles. 



CURCU'MA, L. A genus of Zingibera- 

 ceae (Monocotyledons), remarkable on ac- 

 count of the tuberous rhizomes. Those of 

 C. longa form the substance called turmeric; 

 and the starch from the cells of the young 

 tubers forms one of the kinds of East-Indian 

 arrowroot. The tubers of other species 

 yield very pure starch, and furnish East- 



