Columella

“ Each sporangium traversed by a central subcylindric hollow columella, which extends also to the branches, but does not reach to their apices. Capillitium of slender threads, more or less branched, and combined into a network. Spores globose, violaceous.
Spumaria is essentially related to Didymium by the crystals of lime upon the walls of the sporangia. Rostafinski's figure 158 can only be regarded as ideal or diagrammatic. I am disposed to question the existence of the central columella altogether; if it does exist, it must be extremely defective. ”

“ Recognized by its rather large, white, depressed or flattened sporangia tending to form reticulations, and hence suggesting the name. The lines of fruiting tend to follow the venation of the supporting leaf; where the sporangium is round, the columella is a distinct rounded or cake-like body; where the fruit is venulose, the columella is less distinct.
By these rounded forms we pass easily, as by a gate, to D. hemisphericum, which, when wholly sessile, differs still in greater diameter of the sporangia and in having somewhat larger spores. ”

“ Thick, oval, or angular; with short spire, and long narrow aperture, contracted in the centre, and terminating in a short canal; outer lip thickened and dentated; inner lip irregularly crenated. Epidermis thin, brown. Operculum very small, horny.—Obs. Those species of Mitra, which resemble Columbella in shape, may easily be distinguished by the plaits on the columella. The Columbellæ are marine, and few fossil species are known. Fig. 430, C. Mercatoria. Swainson has divided this genus into the following: Columbella, consisting of C. Mercatoria, &c. ”

“ Tibullus, bk. 1, poem 7, li. 17.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 1, ch. 15.
Columella Lucius Junius Moderatus, a native of Gades, who wrote, among other works, 12 books on agriculture, of which the tenth, on gardening, is in verse. The style is elegant, and the work displays the genius of a naturalist, and the labours of an accurate observer. The best edition of Columella is that of Gesner, 2 vols., 4to, Lipscomb, 1735, and reprinted there 1772.
Columnæ Hercŭlis, a name given to two mountains on the extremest parts of Spain and Africa, at the entrance into the Mediterranean. ”

“ Rex shows that the relationships of the species are with Tubifera; that the so-called columella is probably an abortive sporangium, the so-called capillitial threads having no homology with the capillitial threads of the true columelliferous forms. It is a good species of Tubifera, nothing more. The tubules are shorter than in either of the preceding species; the spores are darker, larger, and more thoroughly reticulate. ”

“ The new form is ovate, of about the size of the other species, which it resembles in sculpture and in the lamellae of the parietal wall and columella. The two palatal plicae are subequal, the upper emerging to the lip, the lower one also long, reaching to the inner edge of the peristome. There is a very small nodule on the base of the columella. In griqualandica the lower palatal plica is short and very deeply immersed and there is a distinct though small basal plica within the base, in front of the lower palatal plica. ”

“ Which also nourisheth Trées growing on the Northside of the place, the better to defend the cold ayre from them, & cleare springs or faire riuer water running by. Columella willeth the Hiues to be set open toward the south, far from noyse, & haunte of people and beastes, neyther in a hote nor colde place, for eyther of these do molest and harme the bées. ”

“ Columella plicata.
Shell unequally fusiform. Spire lengthened, attenuated. Outer lip simple, not toothed within. Columella plaited.
Specific Character.
M. epidermide luteâ, fulvo-marmoratâ, anfractibus infernè basi nigris, columellâ quinque-plicatâ. Linn. Trans. xii. p. 338.
Mitre, with the epidermis marbled with brownish-yellow; volutions at their base black; columella five-plaited.
Mitra zonata. Marryat in Linn. Trans. vol. xii. pl. 10. fig. 1. 2. ”

“ Sporangia crowded in depressed masses or tufts, black, long, cylindric, even, stipitate; stipe black, shining, generally very short; hypothallus [Pg 176] well developed, black; columella black, slender, weak, generally dissipated some distance below the apex; capillitium of slender brown or dusky threads anastomosing to form an open network next the columella, but extended outwardly in form of long free slender branchlets, now and then dichotomously forked; spore-mass blue-black, spores by transmitted light dark brown, globose, spinulose, some of them faintly reticulate, about 9 μ. ”

“ The head is deeply grooved, and is apparently cut from the middle part of the columella, the shaft being formed from the spine-like basal point. The spiral canal, which is clearly defined, makes but one revolution in the entire length of the pin. In Fig. 5 a somewhat similar specimen is represented. Two fine specimens come from a mound on Fain's Island, Tennessee River. The larger one is made from the columella of some heavy shell, probably the Strombus gigas. The head is cylindrical, and the shaft large, but imperfect. ”

“ Sporangia gregarious, scattered, discoidal, depressed or umbilicate above, sometimes almost annulate, snow-white, small, .5–.7 mm., stipitate; stipe about twice the sporangium, pale yellow, strand-like, [Pg 75] but erect, even; hypothallus none; columella none; capillitium strongly calcareous, almost as in Badhamia, aggregate at the center, and forming a pseudo-columella at the base of the peridium; peridial wall firm, covered with innate patches of lime, somewhat yellow at the base; spores minutely spinulose, violaceous, 7–9 μ.
This little species reaches us from California. ”

“ Shell. Distinguished from the preceding genus by having a sinus at the base, and another at the summit; turreted; aperture longitudinal, right lip sharp, base of the columella inclined to the right. Inhabits the rivers of India and Africa. One species is found in America. ”

“ American students mistake larger and more globular forms of something else, of D. spumarioides Fr., whose spores are but little larger; or of D. effusum (Schw.) Morg., where the flattened plasmodiocarps anon splatter out to globose drops of polished whiteness, and whose spores are 8 μ. But even here the chances of error are small. In the species last named the columella or sporangial base is alutaceous, not white; in Fries' species, while the columella if present may be white, the peridial walls are different, difficult to distinguish. ”

“ In Ephedra helvetica, as described by Jaccard, no proembryo or suspensor is formed; but the most vigorous fertilized egg, after undergoing several divisions, becomes attached to a tissue, termed the columella, which serves the purpose of a primary suspensor; the columella appears to be formed by the lignification of certain cells in the central region of the embryo-sac. At a later stage some of the cells in the upper (micropylar) end of the embryo divide and undergo considerable elongation, serving the purpose of a secondary suspensor. ”

“ The chief value of the work of Columella, however, lies in its clear showing-forth of the relative importance given to different crops, under Roman culture, and to the raising of cattle, poultry, fish, etc.; as compared with crops. Knowing this, we know very much that will help us toward an estimate of the domestic life of the Romans. We learn, with surprise, how little they regarded their oxen, save as working-animals,—whether the milk-white steers of Clitumnus, or the dun Campanian cattle, whose descendants show their long-horned stateliness to this day in the Roman forum. ”

“ Genus Turbinella. Pl. XI. Animal. Imperfectly known.
Shell. Usually turbinated (but sometimes turriculated) , wrinkled, thick; spire slightly variable in form; aperture elongated, terminated by a straight canal, and often rather short; the left edge nearly straight and formed by a callosity concealing the columella, which has two or three nearly transverse and unequal folds; the right edge entire and trenchant. Found in the Equatorial or Australian seas. Twenty-three species. ”

“ That which is produced of the thick-shell, becomes best timber, that of the thinner, better fruit. Columella has sundry excellent rules how to ascertain and accelerate the growth of this tree, and to improve its qualities; and I am assur’d, that having been graffed on the ash (though others say no incision improves it) it thrives exceedingly, becomes a handsome tree, and what is most estimable, bears its fruit within four years, all which I recommend to the farther industrious. ”

“ NATICA. Brug. Fam. Neritacea, Lam. Hemicyclostomata, Bl.—Descr. Globose, thick, generally smooth; spire short, pointed, with few volutions; aperture semilunar, entire; outer lip thin; columellar lip oblique, nearly straight, callous; umbilicus with a spiral callosity, terminating behind the columella, and sometimes filling up the cavity; operculum shelly in some species, horny in others; epidermis thin, light, semitransparent.—Obs. The straight, callous, smooth edge of the columella and the callosity serve to distinguish this genus from Nerita, Neritina, Neritopsis and Helix. Fig. ”

“ These ascending branches are in many cases, probably in all, real, though as yet imperfectly developed, columellæ. They rise, at least in many cases, directly from the hypothallus, each is central to an individual sporangium, rises to about two-thirds its height, but never attains the summit. The sporangia are so crowded that many are choked off below, never reach the top of the æthalium. In such cases the columella may cease at the sporangium-top. The columella bears cystiferous threads sparingly, if at all ”

“ Fleming states that it is quite common in Roumania, and Ramon de Sagra alludes to it as being popular in Spain. It prevails to some extent in our own country, especially in the South.
Columella, a contemporary of Pliny, in a work entitled "De Re Rustica," informs us that in his time it was believed among shepherds that, if, on the fortieth day after a pup's birth, the last bone of the tail be bitten off, the sinew will follow with it; after which the tail will cease growing, and the animal will remain secure from madness. ”

“ Shell roundish polyhedral, smooth, with slight sagittal stricture. Cephalis nearly cubical, with irregularly roundish pores; two or three pairs of larger pores on each side of the ring. Basal plate with two very large pores. Galea pyramidal, with two large occipital holes. Columella enclosed in the dorsal wall of the galea, prolonged into an oblique pyramidal spine of the same length. Two pectoral feet pyramidal, nearly vertical and as long as the ring, twice as long as the caudal foot. ”

“ Habitat.—Central Pacific, Station 272, depth 2600 fathoms.
6. Pteroscenium tripocolpum, n. sp.
Shell campanulate, spinulate, similar to Euscenium tricolpium (Pl. 53, fig. 12) with three vaulted hemispherical bosoms between the three delicate arachnoidal vertical wings. Network loose, very irregular, with polygonal meshes of very different sizes. Columella with three or four triradiate verticils, as long as the slender pyramidal horn. Three feet twice as long, somewhat curved, widely divergent, with three or four pairs of lateral branches. ”

“ Shell ovoid, with short spire and folded columella; foot small, no operculum; siphon short. Cancellaria.
Fam. 10.—Columbellidae. Spire of shell prominent, aperture narrow, canal very short, columella crenelated; foot large. Columbella.
Fam. 11.—Coralliophilidae. Shell irregular; radula absent; foot and siphon short; sedentary animals, living in corals. Coralliophila. Rhizochilus. Leptoconchus. Magilus. Rapa.
Fam. 12.—Volutidae. Head much flattened and wide, with eyes on sides; foot broad; siphon with internal appendages. Valuta. Guivillea. Cymba. ”

“ The jugal is widely separated from the quadrate; the latter stands vertically and is not reached by the pterygoid. There is no columella cranii. The pre- and post-frontals often join to form a supra-orbital roof. The nasals are very small and are excluded from the nares, which are bordered entirely by the enlarged prefrontals and by the maxillaries. The premaxillaries are small and carry no teeth. The latter are acrodont, compressed and tricuspid, and are restricted to the maxillaries and mandibles.
Fig. 148.–Map showing the distribution of Chameleons.
The limbs are peculiar. ”

“ A bank at a foot distance from the water, is kinder for them than a bog, or to be altogether immers’d in the water.
11. ’Tis good to new-mould them about the roots every second, or third year; but men seldom take the pains. It seems that sallows are more hardy, than even willows and oziers, of which Columella takes as much care as of vines themselves. But ’tis cheaper to supply the vacuity of such accidental decays, by a new plantation, than to be at the charge of digging about them three times a year, as that author advises ”

“ Sporangia, in typical forms, gregarious, globose or depressed-globose, gray or snow-white, stipitate; the peridium a thin iridescent membrane covered more or less richly with minute crystals of lime; the stipe when present, snow-white, fluted or channelled, stout, even; columella white, conspicuous; hypothallus usually small or obsolete; capillitium of delicate branching threads, usually colorless or pallid, sometimes with conspicuous calyciform thickenings; spores violaceous, minutely warted or spinulose, 8–10 μ. ”