Osculum

“ Plakina.—The genus Plakina includes some of the simplest of the siliceous sponges. Just as in the Calcarea the most primitive “person” or individual is represented by the Olynthus type, so in the non-calcareous sponges we may recognize a primitive or fundamental form of individual to which the name “Rhagon” has been applied. This is the first stage reached after the metamorphosis of the larva in certain species, and the little sponge consists of a cushion-shaped sac, attached below by a broad flattened base and terminating above in a single vent or osculum (fig. 3) . ”

“ Shell quite ovate, thick-walled, smooth, without external strictures. Length of the three joints = 2 : 2 : 9. breadth = 3 : 5 : 7. Cephalis conical, with a thick conical horn of the same length. Thorax and abdomen gradually dilated towards the base, and then hemispherical, constricted. Mouth scarcely one-third as broad as the abdomen, prolonged into a short tube. Pores regular, circular, disposed in transverse rows, two to three in the cephalis, two to three in the thorax, eight to ten in the abdomen. ”

“ Each ocellus consists of a capsule placed at right angles to the surface of the body in the parenchyma, below the dorsal muscles, and with its convex face outwards. It is a single cell in which pigment granules have accumulated. The light, however, can only reach the refractive rods, which lie within it, obliquely at their outer ends. These rods are in connexion with the retinal cells, and thus communicate by the optic nerve with the brain. The cerebral eyes are really paired, and are directed some upwards, some sideways, some downwards. ”

“ Shell ovate, slightly compressed, with a series of five stout, conical, radial spines on the aboral margin; the middle spine is placed in the main axis and longer than the radius, twice as long as the two next, and three times as long as the more distant spines. Peristome short and broad, collar-shaped, with two large, divergent, straight teeth, each of which is longer than the shell-radius and bears at its base a large hole. ”

“ The ocelli are seen in their simplest form as a pigmented patch of ectoderm, which consists of two kinds of cells— (1) pigment-cells, which are ordinary indifferent cells of the epithelium containing pigment-granules, and (2) visual cells, slender sensory epithelial cells of the usual type, which may develop visual cones or rods at their free extremity. The ocelli occur usually either on the inner or outer sides of the tentacles; if on the inner side, the tentacle is turned upwards and carried over the ex-umbrella, so as to expose the ocellus to the light ”

“ Day-flying Lepidoptera have smaller facets than moths (Lubbock) .
Fig. 260.—Section through the ocellus of a young Dyticus larva: ct, cuticula; l, corneal lens; gh, cells of the vitreous body, being modified hypodermal cells (hy) ; st, rods; re, retinal cells; no, optic nerve.—After Grenacher, from Lang.
The simple, or single-lensed eye (ocellus) .—Morphologically the simple eye is a modified portion of the ectoderm, the pigment enclosing the retinal cells arising from specialized hypodermal cells, and covered by a specialized transparent portion of the cuticula, forming the corneal lens. ”

“ II. Ascomycetes.—This, except in the case of a few of the simpler forms, is a very sharply marked group characterized by a special type of sporangium, the ascus. In the development of the ascus we find two nuclei at the base which fuse together to form the single nucleus of the young ascus. The single nucleus divides by three successive divisions to form eight nuclei lying free in the protoplasm of the ascus. Then by a special method, described first by Harper, a mass of protoplasm is cut out round each nucleus; thus eight uninucleate ascospores are formed by free-cell formation. ”

“ Many of these are cosmopolitan, or at least common and widely distributed. To facilitate study we may divide this large genus into four subgenera: in two of these the terminal feet are divergent, or nearly parallel; in the two others convergent. In each of these two groups the pores of the thorax and the abdomen are either nearly equal in size and form, or distinctly different, the abdominal pores being often much larger than the thoracic. The small cephalis bears constantly an apical horn, which is usually simple, rarely branched. ”

“ Development of the eyes.—Compound eyes do not appear until the beginning of pupal life, the single eye (ocellus) being the primitive organ of vision. The ocellus of Acilius, according to Patten, arises as a pit or depression of the ectoderm (Fig. 542) . The long hypodermal cells which form the walls of this pit or hollow are arranged in a single layer, and bear at their free ends a striated cuticular edge (c) , while from their inner or basal end arise the fibres destined to form the common optic nerve. ”

“ The operculum expands medially to merge with the main part of the otic capsule (Fig. 20g) . The lateral edge of the operculum expands ventrally and then dorsomedially to form a complete tube. Slightly more posteriorly the cartilaginous lateral edge of the otic capsule, lateral to the operculum, dissipates into connective tissue and finally disappears, leaving the posterior end of the operculum as the most distal element of the otic capsule (Fig. 20h) .
[Pg 31]
Fig. ”

“ The only sense-organs are the pigment spots ("ocelli," formed of modified ectoderm cells imbedded in red and yellow pigment) , between the branchial and atrial lobes, the tentacles at the base of the branchial siphon, and probably the dorsal tubercle and the languets or dorsal lamina, in all of which, as well as in the endostyle and peripharyngeal bands and in papillae on the ectoderm and in the branchial sac, sensory cells have been found. ”

“ As regards structure, the Oscines have one posterior incision or fenestra on each side of the sternum; the furcula is U-shaped; the tongue is variable, as is the syrinx (pp. 13, 21, 22, 467) ; the nostrils may be pervious or impervious; an after-shaft is nearly always present, though comparatively weak; down occurs sparingly on the blind young, and is absent, or only found on the unfeathered spaces, in adults. The primaries number ten or eleven; the secondaries nineteen, twenty, or even more; the rectrices normally twelve. ”

“ The shell is usually shaped like a nut or thorax, and exhibits two paired lateral chambers, which are separated by a distinct sagittal ring and a slighter or deeper sagittal constriction. The dorsal rod of the ring is prolonged at the upper pole into an ascending apical horn, at the lower pole into a descending caudal foot, whilst two paired pectoral or lateral feet arise from the anterior pole of the basal rod. ”

“ This Ascula is the recapitulative form, according to the biogenetic 380 fundamental law, the common ancestor of all Zoophytes, namely, the Protascus (vol. ii. pp. 129, 133) . By the development of pores in the wall of the stomach and of three-rayed calcareous spicules, the Ascula changes into the Olynthus (Fig. 9.) In Fig. 9 a piece is cut out from the stomach-wall of the Olynthus in order to show the inside of the stomachal cavity, and the eggs which are forming on the surface (g) . From the Olynthus the most various forms of Calcareous Sponges can develop. ”

“ A quite peculiar and remarkable character of few genera is the development of one or two oscula, larger marginal openings, which are surrounded by a corona of spines, and probable are fit for the issue a peculiar bunch of pseudopodia or of a "sarcode flagellum." ”

“ The cavity of the inner shell seems to pass over immediately into the tubular cavities of the radial beams. These latter are sometimes simple, at other times articulated or jointed by a number of transverse septa. The radial beams are covered in all the species observed either with scattered spines (fig. 5) or with verticils of anchor-threads, very thin, filiform, lateral branches which bear a spathilla with three or four recurved teeth on the distal end (figs. 2, 4) . ”

“ The upper edge of the ribs is connected with the occipital horn by a vertical, loosely reticulated, triangular wing. Abdomen half as long as the thorax, also of irregular and oblique form, with knee-shaped outline and a wide, truncate mouth. Network with irregular polygonal, for the most part quadrangular, meshes, separated by thin bars and forming irregular transverse rows. Some stronger, vein-like ribs ramify in the wall, diverging towards the mouth. ”

“ A distinct main axis is always marked by the large open mouth on its oral pole. The aboral part of the shell-cavity contains the spherical central capsule, the oral part the dark phæodium, a part of which is often prominent through the mouth (figs. 1, 2, 4) . The wall of the inner shell is a very thin and transparent lamella of silica, which is structureless and solid in Cannosphæra, distinctly fenestrated in Cœlacantha; the pores of the latter are irregularly rounded and seem to possess a thickened margin. ”

“ Scoliidae.
The members of this family, so far as is known, display less perfect instincts than the Sphegidae and Pompilidae, and do not construct cells or form burrows. Information as to the habits is almost confined to European forms. We adopt five sub-families.
Sub-Fam. 1. Mutillides.—The sides of the pronotum reach the tegulae: the female is destitute of wings and ocelli, frequently having the parts of the thorax so closely soldered that the divisions between them are obliterated: the males are winged, furnished with ocelli, and having the thoracic divisions distinct ”

“ Richard Hertwig demonstrated that the cavity of the ovate shell, externally simple, is divided by an internal transverse septum into two joints, the upper of which is the flat rudimentary cephalis (Organism. d. Radiol., p. 79; compare also Bütschli, 1882, loc. cit., p. 535) . Indeed this septum, with four central crossed cortinar beams, is a true collar septum, and Carpocanium has been derived from Anthocyrtis or Desmospyris by reduction of the cephalis, which is very flat and perfectly hidden in the uppermost part of the thorax. ”

“ On examining this piece, it will be observed that it is not formed in regular layers like the rest of the shell; while the true operculum is of a regularly laminated structure, having a nucleus and receiving obliquely deposited additions, either in a lateral spiral or concentric direction. It is attached to the posterior part of the foot on the upper surface; and when the animal retires within its shell, that part of the foot enters last, drawing the operculum after it, and thus closing the aperture. ”

“ In nearly all species, with a few exceptions, the shell is more or less compressed from the two sides, so that its horizontal transverse section is not circular, but elliptical or lanceolate. In many species the shell is more or less lenticular, with a sharp or sometimes keeled margin. This margin lies in the sagittal plane of the body, whilst the two flat sides are right and left. The main axis is always perpendicular, and its oral or anterior pole is marked by the open mouth of the shell ”

“ When the ossicles of the arm are followed inwards towards the mouth, they are seen to undergo a profound modification, so as to form, by union with the corresponding ossicles of adjacent arms, a structure called the mouth-frame. The general character of this modification is similar to that affecting the first ambulacral and adambulacral ossicles in the arms of an Asteroid, but in the Ophiuroid the change is much more profound. ”

“ The most perfect form, termed "forcipulate," in which there is a basal ossicle, is found in Asteriidae, Brisingidae, Heliasteridae, Pedicellasteridae, Zoroasteridae, Stichasteridae. There are two varieties of forcipulate pedicellariae, the "crossed" and the "straight," which have been described on p. 432. In all other cases the pedicellariae are devoid of the basal ossicle, and the two or more spinelets forming the jaws are directly attached to one of the main plates of the skeleton. ”

“ This fibrillar striation is usually most distinct on the base of the openings, where also the endoplasm becomes stained very intensely by carmine. The astropyle as well as {1530}the parapylæ often exhibit here, when observed from the face, a distinct radial striation (compare Hertwig, loc. cit., p. 98, Taf. x. figs. 6-14) Perhaps the radiate shape of the operculum is only produced by radial folds of the endocapsa placed beyond it, and these folds may be in turn the product of the radial fibrillæ, which are prominent beyond the astropyle. ”