MONTAGNITES. 



C 510 ] 



MOSSES. 



Weymouth. (Lubbock, Ann. N. II. 1857, 

 xx. 401 ; Brady, Cop. iii. 37.) 



MONTAGNITES, Fr. A genus of 

 Agaricini (Hymenomycetous Fungi), distin- 

 guished by the dry gills which project after 

 the universal volva breaks off from the 

 edge of the pileus. 



One species occurs in the south of France 

 and Algeria, another in Texas, and a third 

 in Siberia, in dry sandy soil; extremely 

 interesting as connecting the Hymenomy- 

 cetes with the Gasteromycetes. 



BIBL. Fr. Ep. 241 ; FL Alg. t. 21. f. 2. 



MONU'RA, Ehr. A genus of Rotatoria, 

 of the family Euchlanidota. 



Char. Eyes two, frontal ; foot simply sty- 

 liform. Carapace somewhat compressed 

 and open beneath. 



Two species. 



M. dulcis (PI. 44." fig. 12). Carapace 

 ovate, obliquely truncate and acute behind ; 

 eyes distant. Length of carapace 1-280". 



BIBL. Ehr. Infus. 474. 



MOOR'EA, J. & Kirkby. A fossil Os- 

 tracode, known by its suboval depressed 

 valves, with raised margins. Found in 

 Silurian and Carboniferous rocks. 



BIBL. Jones & Holl, Ann. 2V. H. 4. iii. 

 225. 



MORCHEL'LA, Dill A genus of Asco- 

 mycetous Fungi, distinguished by its stipi- 

 tate receptacle, which is deeply folded and 

 pitted. 



Four species occur in this country, amongst 

 which M . crassipes is the giant of the genus. 

 The species are esculent, and largely im- 

 ported. They are very abundant in some 

 parts of India, especially in Kashmir. They 

 often occur on cinder walks and burnt soil. 



BIBL. Grev. Crypt. FL tab. 68, 89 ; Berk. 

 Outl. t. 21. f. 5 ; Cooke, Handb. 655. 



MORPHIA. See ALKALOIDS, p. 31. 



MORPHO, Fabr. A genus of Exotic 

 Lepidopterous Insects. 



M. Menelaus. The scales from the wings 

 of this beautiful insect are sometimes used 

 as TEST-OBJECTS. 



MORTIEREL'LA. A genus of Muce- 

 dines, with branched threads like a cande- 

 labrum, on the underside of which spo- 

 rangia are produced ; zygospores have also 

 been found. Moulds of great elegance. 

 Martensella, an allied genus, has pectinate 

 sporangia. (Coemans, Bull. Ac. Belgiq. xv. 

 544 ; Bary & Woronin, Beit. 4 ; Brefeld, iv. 



LOSSES, MUSCACE^E. This order of 

 floweiiess plants is distinguished from the 



Hepaticse by the vegetative structure and 

 by the sporanges. In one group alone 

 (Hypopteryyiece) is the stem clothed with 

 leaves, accompanied by amphigastria (sti- 

 pule-like leaflets), in the manner of the 

 loliaceous Hepaticse (fig. 355, p. 409) : and 

 here the sporange is a stalked urn-shaped 

 body, with a deciduous lid, and like those 

 of the Mosses generally ; and this Jun- 

 germannia-like leafy stem is erect, and not 

 procumbent as in Jungermannia itself. In 

 all other Mosses the leaves clothing the 

 stem are arranged in a spiral order around 

 the stem, so as to give the vegetative struc- 

 ture a very characteristic aspect. On the 

 other hand, the Andraeaceae, which have 

 a valvate capsule, have spirally-arranged 

 leaves. 



The stem of the Mosses is a slender 

 thread-like wiry structure, wholly com- 

 posed of cellular tissue, without vessels ; but 

 the external layer has an epidermoid cha- 

 racter, while the central portion is com- 

 posed of elongated cells. In one section of 

 the Mosses this stem terminates in a spo- 

 range, and these are called Acrocarpous 

 Mosses; in others the sporanges spring from 

 lateral branches, and the ter- 

 minal bud of the stem elon- Fig. 462. 

 gates the stem year after year ; 

 these latter are called Pleuro- 

 carpous Mosses. In some of the 

 genera the sporanges are borne 

 terminally on short special 

 branches, as in Sphagnum, 

 Mielichhoferia, part of Fissi- 

 dens, Guembelia fontinaloides 

 (tig. 289, p. 366) ; these are 

 termed Cladocarpous. 



The leaves are of simple 

 structure, usually composed 

 of a single layer of cells, the 

 forms of which are used as 

 characters by systematic Mus- 

 cologists. They are either all 

 alike in a leaf, and filled with Ephemerum 

 chlorophyll, and in these cases 

 may be either parmchymatous 

 (PI. 47. fig. 19) or prosenchy? 

 matous (PI. 47. fig. 20). In other cases two 

 sorts of cells occur arranged in a peculiar 

 way ; some, smaller, containing chlorophyll, 

 form a kind of network, the meshes of which 

 are occupied by large uncoloured cells (see 

 SPHAGNUM and LEUCOBRYUM). 



The margins of the leaves are frequently 

 serrated ; and the upper surface is occasion- 

 ally papillose, or covered with rough points. 



Magn. 50 diams. 



