Frustule

“ A frustule of Schizonema can move independently of the 408 sheath, and so will a detached frustule of bacillaria. This peculiar and exceptionally anomalous phenomenon as that of the movements of bacillaria can hardly be confined to a solitary species. The movements of the frustules are much accelerated by warmth and light. The longer filaments of other minute species only slightly exhibit any motion of the kind, but have peculiar undulating motions. ”

“ Plate IV. fig. 12.—The frustules are siliceous, and of a slender, elongated form. The plant is attached by the base (fig. 12 a.) in youth, and afterwards becomes free. It is found fossil in the Mountain-meal of Santa Flora, and many other deposits.
Podosphenia. Plate IV. fig. 13.—The frustule is cruciform, or wedge-shaped, and attached in youth by the small end, but afterwards becomes free. These plants are often arranged in clusters, as in the figure. M. Ehrenberg states that they inhabit the sea, and not fresh-water ”

“ V. fig. 22, one or more lines will be observed running longitudinally down the middle of the frustules, and corresponding to the indications of division existing in the cells of the{76} Desmidiaceæ. Each half of a frustule is called a valve, and the line at which these valves meet is called the suture. That side or aspect of the frustule in which the suture lies (fig. 22 f) is the front view; and the other aspect of the frustule (fig. 22 s) is the side view. ”

“ Sometimes the frustules, which in all cases are single, are crowded very closely upon each other and almost wholly hide the substance on which they repose. Fig. 30 is another diatom of a flag-like shape, named Achnanthes, having a long slender filament attached to one end of the lower frustule, representing the flag-staff. There are many wonderful species of such diatoms, some running almost end to end like a bundle of sticks, and therefore called Bacillária; others spreading out like a number of fans, such as the genus Licmophora ”

“ Frustules single or geminate, cylindrical, short, in zone view rectangular or with undulating sides. Valve usually with smooth or punctate striæ, centre sometimes bullose, smooth, or with granules scattered or radiating. ”

“ Several species of Synedra resemble S. radians in the mode of growth, as they are adnate at first, in short bands, the frustules being sessile on other plants or objects, attached at the terminal nodules which, although scarcely visible in most forms, are probably present in all. The frustules are not closely connected at the free end, and soon become entirely detached.
In Diatoma and Fragilaria, we find a punctum or pore at one end of a valve, but not in line with the pseudoraphe ”

“ Valve suborbicular or triangular, with short, truncate processes. Surface with fine puncta about 13 in 10 μ radiating in straight or curved lines toward the circumference and with fine spurs at intervals. Nearer one process than the other, and about half way between centre and circumference, are two small spines, one on each side. Quite variable in size.
Blue clay. Common along the coast.
Pl. 7, Fig. 9.
Fig. 10 (magnification about 260 diameters only) illustrates sporangial frustules discovered by Mr. T. Chalkley Palmer at Reedy Island, Delaware River. ”

“ Frustules enclosed in gelatinous tubes. Valve linear-lanceolate, obtuse at the ends; forks about one-third the length of the valve; striæ, 28 in 10 μ.
Conferva rutilans Trentepohl.
Schizonema dillwynii Wm. Sm.
Abundant at Belmar, N. J.
Pl. 17, Fig. 10.
Fig. 11 represents a portion of the gelatinous tube containing frustules.
Dictyoneis CLEVE (1890)
(dictyon, a net)
Frustules oblong. Valve lanceolate, constricted in the middle (in our species) ; an outer layer finely punctate and an inner layer of reticulations; the margin of the valve divided into large, quadrate cells. ”

“ In one of the earliest classifications of diatoms, the individual cell received less consideration than the nature of the filament or thallus in which many species occur in the first stages of their growth. Those, however, which exist in colonies at first are, sooner or later, broken up into separate frustules, either before or at the time of their maturity or previous to conjugation, while very many species are never seen except in a free state. ”

“ In England it is really never out of blossom, not even after a severe frost, giving rise to the well-known saying "Love is never out of season except when the Furze is out of bloom." It is also known as Fursbush, Furrs and Whins, being crushed and given as fodder to cattle. The tender shoots are protected from being eaten by herbivorous animals in the same way as are the thistles and the holly, by the angles of the leaves having grown together so as to constitute prickles. ”

“ A male and a female specimen are figured on Plate 130. The males are usually darker than the females, but they vary in the amount of darker clouding and suffusion. Three forms of the species have been named as follows—ab. brunneata, Tutt, a modification of the female rather more strongly coloured than the darkest typical male. Ab. fuscata, Tutt, sooty brown, tending to blackish; both sexes somewhat paler in central area of fore wings. Ab. unicolor, Tutt, similar to ab. fuscata, but without pale marking; the thorax is also darker. (Plate 134, Fig. 7, ab. fuscata.) ”

“ The long pointed wings have sixteen or seventeen secondaries, and eleven primaries, of which the outer has its shaft produced into a thin filament in Syrrhaptes paradoxus; the wedge-shaped tail has sixteen rectrices, the median pair being elongated and pointed in that genus and Pteroclurus (Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse) , if the latter be allowed to stand. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx tracheo-bronchial, the tongue lanceolate; there is a small aftershaft, and a large crop; while the down of the adults is sparingly distributed. ”

“ Specimens in fruit should always be obtained when possible, so that the nature of the fructification may be observed. Two kinds of spores may be seen in each species, but, as is usually the case with the red sea weeds, on different plants. Some are small pear-shaped bodies, enclosed in oval cells at the tips of the fronds; and the others are arranged in clusters of four in swollen parts of the threads.
The commonest species is P. fastigiata, which may be found in abundance as bushy brownish tufts on the fronds of Fucus nodosus (p. 386) . ”

“ Yellow Wood or Old Fustic, a dye-stuff consisting of the wood of Chlorophora tinctoria, a large tree of the natural order Moraceae, growing in the West Indies and tropical America. Fustic occurs in commerce in blocks, which are brown without, and of a brownish-yellow within. ”

“ The figures here reproduced show how great a variety of subjects were successfully dealt with in Fuchs’ work. The Cabbage (Text-fig. 30) is realised in a way that brings home to us the intrinsic beauty of this somewhat prosaic subject. In the Wild Arum (Text-fig. 88) the fruit and a dissection of the inflorescence are represented, so that, botanically, the drawing reaches a high level. Fuchs’ wood-cuts are nearly all original, but that of the White Waterlily appears to have been founded upon Brunfels’ figure. ”

“ The great majority of Crustacea are hatched from the egg in a form very different from that which they finally assume, and reach the adult state only after passing through a series of transformations quite as remarkable as those which a caterpillar undergoes in becoming a butterfly, or a tadpole in becoming a frog. ”

“ The furcula is U-shaped, and the crop is almost absent, but an after-shaft is present; the pointed tongue, the impervious nostrils, and the tracheo-bronchial syrinx calling for no special remark. Where the sexes {188}differ, the female is almost always the larger and brighter-plumaged bird, the colours being black, brown, buff, chestnut, and white in varying admixture, and becoming less distinct with age. ”

“ During the love season the male sometimes sings on the wing; rising to a height of several yards, it drops slowly and gracefully down, uttering a series of beautiful notes and trills.
A furze-bush is the site most often selected for the nest; this is formed of fine dry grass and fibres, and lined with wool and vegetable down, sometimes with hair. Four to six eggs are laid, chalky white, and faintly tinged with blue in ground-colour, and spotted with light reddish brown and purplish red. ”

“ So saying, the active little fellow sprang from his hole, and if you had seen him, you would have thought that no animal without wings could have ventured upon such a leap without being dashed to pieces upon the ground. But Brush had nothing to fear; for though he had no wings, he knew that his beautiful bushy tail, and his legs, stretched out straight from his body, would bear him up in the air, and prevent his falling too heavily. ”

“ A hen follows, and rises steadily in a long-drawn slanting line till near the tops of the beeches, then rockets sharp up over the highest branches, and descends in a wide sweeping curve along the valley. In the glade among the beeches the furze has grown straight up ten feet high, like sapling trees, and flowers at the top, golden bloom on a dry pole. There are more pheasants in the furze, so that, not to disturb them, it is best to walk round and not enter it. ”

“ It is not advisable to shade fuchsias much, though they will not stand much sunshine. It is also not well to play the syringe on them when they are in flower, for the splashing about of the water disfigures the leaves. ”

“ As corroborating what I have before said with respect to pollen being often found on the stigmas of flowers which retain their own pollinia, I may add that, of the eleven flowers which had produced capsules, five had both pollinia still within their now withered anther-cells.
From these facts the suspicion naturally arises that O. fusca is so rare a species in Britain from not being sufficiently attractive to insects, and to its not producing a sufficiency of seed. ”

“ The bristle (frenulum) arising from the base of the hind wing is held in place by the catch (retinaculum) on the costal nervure of the fore wing. It will be noticed that the bristle of the male is longer and firmer than that of the female. The latter, moreover, is usually made up of two or more strands; the catch, too, in the female is on the median instead of the costal nervure. These structures are found on the under side of the wings of most moths, but they are absent in all butterflies. ”

“ The locusts of the locality had suffered great slaughter. Some of them in the hole or den had been eaten to a mere shell by the larvæ of the hornet. Under the wing of each insect an egg is attached; the egg soon hatches, and the grub at once proceeds to devour the food its thoughtful parent has provided. As it grows, it weaves itself a sort of shell or cocoon, in which, after a time, it undergoes its metamorphosis, and comes out, I think, a perfect insect toward the end of summer. ”

“ It is precisely in this portion that the germ is found, which will not be eaten by the larva, and will remain capable of developing into a plant, in spite of the large aperture made by the emergence of the adult insect. Why is this particular portion left untouched? What are the motives that safeguard the germ?
It goes without saying that the Bruchus is not considering the gardener. The pea is meant for it and for no one else. In refusing the few bites that would lead to the death of the seed, it has no intention of limiting its destruction. ”

“ The interval between the blooming of the fruit-trees and that of the clover and the raspberry is bridged over in many localities by the honey locust. What a delightful summer murmur these trees send forth at this season! I know nothing about the quality of the honey, but it ought to keep well. But when the red raspberry blooms, the fountains of plenty are unsealed indeed; what a commotion about the hives then, especially in localities where it is extensively cultivated, as in places along the Hudson! ”

“ The fusca has the longest arms, and makes use of the most curious manœuvres to seize its prey. They are best viewed in a glass seven or eight inches deep, when their arms commonly hang down to the bottom. When this or any other kind is hungry, it spreads its arms in a kind of circle to a considerable extent, inclosing in this, as in a net, every insect which has the misfortune to come within the circumference. ”

“ Another New England name for the Fraxinella, given me from the owner of the herb-garden at Elmhurst, is "Spitfire Plant," because the seed-pods sizzle so when a lighted match is applied to them.
The Fraxinella is a sturdy, hardy flower. There are some aged plants in old New England gardens; I know one which has outlived the man who planted it, his son, grandson, and great-grandson. The Fraxinella bears a tall stem with Larkspur-like flowers of white or a curious dark pink, and shining Ash-like leaves, whence its name, the little Ash. ”

“ E. tomentosus is very commonly found on Fucus and other weeds, where it forms matted tufts of slender threads of a yellowish-brown colour. The threads are clothed with transparent cilia, and together form a dense, spongy mass. The spores are contained in narrow pods supported on short stalks. E. littoralis is another common species, of a very unattractive appearance. It grows in matted tufts on other weeds, on rocks, mud, or any submerged object, and its spores are contained in linear swellings of the branches. ”