September 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



199 



the unwary reader to become a student, it would be wrong 

 to linger any longer on the dry and endless details which 

 belong to anatomy and classification. In the first chapter 



Figure of Sutuplerophoi-its papiliu Hesse. From Brady. 



mention was made of "Sotopteroplwrus papilio, to give a hint of 

 the profundity of learning of which the subject was capable. 

 The names of this truly remarkable Copepod species signify 

 "a butterfly which carries wings on its back." Most 

 butterflies have that privilege. But this is a crustacean, 

 member of a class which climbs the mountain and fathoms 

 the abyss, but which never made the least pretension to 

 have wings to fly with. Yet this wonderful species indicates 

 that Nature, if it chose, could even make a flying crab. 



Dr. Giesbrecht's name has been more than once men- 

 tioned. To his monograph of the pelagic Copepoda {Fauna 

 tind Flora dis Golfes ton Xtapel, Mon. 19, 1892) those 

 should turn who are willing to be entrapped by the fascina- 

 tions of this branch of study. On seeing some of these 

 " ofl'-sconrings of the sea," as the eye of the microscope 

 and the eye of the artist have combined to reveal them, it 

 is probable that the most contemptuous will be surprised 

 into admiration. Dried specimens, and specimens preserved 

 in spirit, as they are seen in collections, are commonly 

 reduced to a imiformly pallid tint, so that few persons know 

 or ever behold the richness and variety, the gaiety and. 

 even splendour of colouring, of which these tiny denizens 

 of the sea are susceptible. Crustaceans brought up from 

 the gloomiest depths are frequently gorgeous in orange and 

 crimson. Of Copepoda which frequent the surface many, 

 as already explained, are either transparently hyaline, 

 brilliantly iridescent, or variously decked with points or 

 bars or splashes of brightly harmonious colours. Some of 

 them have ornaments which, when magnified to suit our 

 dulness of sight, appear quite astonishingly graceful. In 

 this respect the genus Calocalanut: seems to deserve the 

 palm, and within this genus the species Calocalamis puio 

 (Dana) may be held to compete in beauty with the bird 

 after which it is named, if our minds can be brought to 

 tolerate a comparison between the haughty fowl which 

 condescends to adorn our pleasure grounds and a little 

 ocean waif with a body the twentieth part of an inch long. 

 It is not easy to explain in words the quality of distinction 

 and the charm with which the marine organism is really 

 invested, although on a scale so infinitesimal. The body 

 is slenderly oval and colourless. Through the pellucid 

 segments of the back can be seen the mass of orange- 



coloured eggs, for it is the female which is the more 

 exuberantly beautiful. In front, on either side of the 

 head, are extended with gracious sinuosity the twenty-five 

 jointed first antennse, nearly twice as long as the body, 

 which they help to keep steadily balanced in the water. 

 The bristles of various shapes, sizes, colours, and functions, 

 with which the several joints of these antenns are adorned, 

 are important in the animal's economy, as well as very 

 conspicuous features in its array. They shoot out in all 

 directions like a shower of rockets. But this remarkable 

 apparatus becomes almost commonplace by comparison 

 with that of the caudal extremity. Each branch of the 

 furca has four bristles. Such caudal bristles may be 

 simple, serrated, or plumose, but, in any case, they are 

 usually narrow and tapering. Here, on the contrary, from 

 a slender stem the feathering gradually widens till it equals 

 the breadth of the animal's body, passing from limpid 

 clearness at its base to a magnificent orange and brick red, 

 with a metallic gleam, over all its broadly-rounded distal 

 portion. When the animal is in repose, the furcal arms 

 are extended at right angles to the body, and then aU its 

 brilliant feathers are spread abroad in dazzling symmetry, 

 like the train of a Court lady wrought in satin of " old 

 gold." 



Another species of this same genus, Calocalanm plunm- 

 losus (Clans), though inferior in charm, is even more 

 wonderful in appearance. Like its congener, it has four 

 caudal bristles on each furcal branch. These are bright 

 orange in hue, all of very moderate length and breadth, 

 with one exception. The exception is the innermost on 

 the left side. This attains a truly colossal magnitude, 

 being nearly twice the width of the animal's body and 

 about six times its length. The feathering extends over 

 almost the whole of this singular and very fragile orna- 

 ment, which, if regard be had only to proportions, may vie 

 with any single plume that the most wonderful bird can 

 boast of. 



In some genera the brilliance of adornment is shown 

 rather at the middle of the body than at its extremities. 

 Copilia vitrea (Haeckel), by the glassiness which its name 

 implies, permits a facile study of its internal anatomy, and 

 accordingly it is able to exhibit attractions in a part of 

 the organism from which a display of beauty is not usually 

 expected. The stomach is a magnificent orange-red. On 

 either side, its four pairs of swimming-feet make a gorgeous 

 show by means of their conspicuous feathered bristles, not 

 exactly gleaming with purple and gold, but tipped with 

 violet, and in other parts lustrous with a hue that matches 

 the unwonted splendour gleaming from within the body. 



Apart from the beauty of the Copepoda, there are many 

 points of interest, such as the strange forms developed for 

 special purposes in the antennw and fifth pair of limbs, 

 the peculiar eyes of Copilia and Coriiavus, the problems of 

 distribution, and others which remind us that, within the 

 compass of a few columns, nothing more is possible than 

 a little fluttering over the surface of so vast a subject. 

 The parasitic Copepoda may claim a chapter to 

 themselves. 



ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



By John E. .Jackson, a.l.s., etc.. Keeper of the Museums, 

 Pioyal Gardens, Keir. 



ALVACE2E. — This is a large and important 

 economic order, marked by two distinct char- 

 acters which pervade the plants constituting the 

 order, namely, the fibrous inner barks and the 

 mucilaginous or gummy substances found in 

 the stems, roots, and fruits. None of the plants have any 



M 



