Chapter XVII: Brachionus (3)

The exuviæ or cast-off skins of insects, being exceedingly transparent, are well adapted for observation, as they exhibit the external appearance of the little animal; among these, may be reckoned those of spiders and cimices, but particularly the forficula auricularia or earwig, which is an elegant exuvia; a magnified view of the beautiful wing of this insect is exhibited in Plate XIV. and described in page 205. The stings of insects vary not only in their form, but also in their apparatus; most of them require dissection; as the stings, for they have generally two, are inclosed in a hard sheath or case, to which is added a pair of feelers. The stings of bees, wasps, &c. are barbed, while those of the chrysis are serrated, or notched like a saw. The head of insects is furnished with an instrument or proboscis various as the insects themselves, but all meriting attention, as being admirably adapted to their different uses and purposes. Among the most remarkable are those of the bed bug, flea, gnat, empis, conops, &c. to which may be added the singular one of the tabanus, described in page 188, and figured in Plate XVI. A description of the apparatus of the bee has also been given in page 181, and of that of the butterfly in page 186.

The antennæ of moths, butterflies, and most other insects, display as great beauty in their formation as they are endless in their variety; the distinguishing characters of many of them have been described in pages 190-193, and that of the lepas anatifera in particular in page 345, and exhibited in Plate XIII.

The eyes of insects are singularly constructed, but this structure is not discoverable without the assistance of the microscope; the eyes of the libellula are hexagonal, see Plate XVI. Fig. 3, and their description in page 195; those of the lobster are square, as exhibited in Fig. 5 of the same plate, and described in page 197.

The hair of animals, as the mouse, goat, large bee, and many species of caterpillars, particularly the tufts on the head and tail of the larva of the phalæna antiqua, offer many beauties to the curious observer. The bristles of a hog, cut transversely, appear tubular, and the root of hair is evidently bulbous.

The muscular fibres, and every anatomical preparation that can be brought under the microscope, are pleasing objects; the reader will meet with many curious and interesting observations on the hairs, the muscles, nerves, and other parts of the human body, in Fontana’s Treatise on the Venom of Vipers.

The legs of all insects appear very much diversified, and their mechanism truly astonishing, according with their different occupations, as particularized in pages 210-212.

Scales of fish, as soles, roach, dace, salmon, eels, &c. as also the scales of snakes, lizards, &c. &c. Specimens of scales are given in Plates X. and XIX. The scales form a light, but at the same time a solid and smooth covering to the fish; they hinder the fluid from penetrating the body, for which purpose they are laid in a kind of natural oil; they serve also as a protection, and break the force of any accidental blow, which may be the reason why river-fish have larger and stronger scales than sea-fish, being more liable to accidents.

The purple tide of life, nay the very globules of the blood, may be seen distinctly rolling through veins and arteries smaller than the finest hair.[151]

[151] The manner of viewing the particles of the blood has been
described in p. 149, together with some remarks on their form, by our
author. It was not my intention to have renewed the subject; but a
chirurgical treatise having been lately published by Everard Home,
Esq. F. R. S. in which it appears that he has paid particular
attention towards investigating these minute particles, and
ascertaining their true form, I shall here subjoin an abstract.

“As the result of microscopical experiments has been found exceedingly
fallacious, a prejudice has very naturally arisen against all
experiments of this kind upon the secretions of the human body, from a
supposition that they are not to be depended upon. But it is right
that we should discriminate, and not condemn the use of the microscope
altogether, because from ignorance of its principles it has been
misapplied; since these very deceptions have been the means of our
acquiring a more accurate knowledge of the use and application of that
instrument.

“The errors in the use of the microscope have arisen from increasing
the magnifying powers of the glasses too much, and not taking in all
the circumstances relating to the refraction of the rays of light,
making no allowance for the aberration. An attention to the aberration
alone will explain the different appearances under which the red
globules of the blood have been represented. Some have found them
perfect spheres, which will always be the case when the glasses are
perfectly adjusted, and the object placed at the true focal distance.
Others have found them annular, from the object being at the focal
distance of the rays transmitted near the circumference of the
magnifying glass, which are refracted in a greater degree, and
consequently shorter than the central rays. Others, again, have viewed
them as flattened bodies of a circular figure, bright in the center,
and becoming darker towards the edges; which appearance arises from
the object being at the focal distance of the central rays of the
magnifying glass, which will be less refracted than those near the
circumference. Although such are the errors which arise, when
microscopical researches are pushed beyond certain bounds; yet, that
the red part of the blood is made up of globules, is a discovery for
which we are indebted to the microscope, and which seems to be as well
ascertained as any discovery in anatomy or physiology. The appearances
of pus are equally distinct, when examined on the field of a
microscope, as the globules of the blood; they are visible with a
small degree of magnifying power, and are the same to the eyes of
different persons.” EDIT.

Feathers, and parts of feathers of birds, are not to be passed by or unnoticed; but it is impossible to point out any of these in preference to others, as each has its peculiar beauties; the plumulæ of these have generally in the microscope the appearance of large feathers; the pith contained in the quill, if cut transversely and examined, exhibits an admirable reticular texture. Many other parts of birds will afford a great variety of curious objects, particularly the egg: Mr. Martin says, that the internal spongy substance of bones may be better observed in those of birds, than of any other animal; even the feathers or scales of a moth’s wing amply repay the observer; these also vary in their texture and figure; but the largest and most commonly applied, are from the body of the sphinx stellatarum, or humming-bird moth; a specimen is given in Plate XVI. Fig. E F H I.

Transverse sections of all kinds of wood, especially those of a pithy or soft nature, form some of the most delightful objects for the microscope; among these, the section of fern root will be found strikingly curious, from the singular disposition of the air and sap vessels; their beauty will be seen by the figures in Plates XXVIII. XXIX. and XXX.

Flowers, whose brilliancy and variety constitute one of the principal beauties of nature, each being distinguished from the rest by some peculiar beauty or shining character.

The flowers of most grasses, with all the varieties of mosses; the farina of flowers; mouldiness, which evidently appears to vegetate; all the kinds of sponge; sea-weeds; particularly the confervæ, which are jointed like a cane. The extensive family of corallines present an elegant appearance; the most beautiful are the sea hair, sea fir, sickle, fox tail, &c. described by Ellis.

Dissected leaves, which shew the fibres and nerves; the human intestine injected with wax is a fine object; as are many other anatomical preparations. The seed of the silver-rind birch appears like an insect; seed of the quaking grass is also much admired, as is the leaf which covers the seed of sorrel. Among artificial productions, the edge of a razor, and point of a fine needle, as also fine cambrick, evidently discover the inferiority of the workman; particles from the collision of flint and steel; wire melted by the electric explosion, and other articles innumerable.

Besides these, there is an immense variety of objects which can only be satisfactorily examined alive, such as polypes, minute aquatic insects; animalcula of various infusions, as eels in paste, vinegar, &c. The eyes and teeth of snails; the circulation of the blood in the tails of fishes, &c.[152]

[152] Those who possess leisure, particularly such who reside in the
country, may easily procure the major part of the preceding objects,
and also add an extensive variety to them; but those who have not the
opportunity of collecting for themselves, may be supplied with objects
in considerable variety by application to Messrs. Jones. EDIT.

CHAP. XI.

AN ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION OF MINUTE AND RARE SHELLS.--A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF A VARIETY OF VEGETABLE SEEDS, AS THEY APPEAR WHEN VIEWED BY THE MICROSCOPE. BY THE EDITOR.

Notwithstanding the abundance of objects which have from time to time afforded delight to the attentive and diligent microscopic observer, little doubt can be entertained but that amidst the immense variety of minute shells, as well as the seeds of vegetables, numbers remain unexplored, though highly meriting notice.

With the hope of exciting the attention of the curious toward these subjects, and affording hints to those who may happily possess inclination, together with leisure and opportunity to pursue the inquiry, I shall enumerate to the reader a few specimens of each of these admirable productions of nature; towards the elucidating of which, very little, comparatively, has as yet been done.

As far as my knowledge extends, the first author who has treated on the subject of minute and rare shells, is Plancus, who published a treatise in quarto, at Venice, in the year 1739, with the title “De Conchis Ariminensibus minus notis;” a third and improved edition of which appeared in 1760. It is a very curious and learned work, containing a natural history of testaceous animals of Rimini, an Italian town situated on the Adriatic shore; and more particularly of minute nautili.

In the year 1784, Mr. Walker of Faversham published in quarto a collection of minute shells, which was the joint production of himself and William Boys, Esq. F. S. A. of Sandwich, in Kent, assisted by the late Edward Jacob, Esq. F. S. A. It contains an arrangement and concise description of ninety shells, accompanied with neatly engraved figures of the whole series; the greater part of them as well in their magnified state, as that in which they appear to the naked eye. Specimens of those which are esteemed most curious and rare, I have selected from this work: a reference to the original will afford the reader more complete satisfaction, and possibly animate him to further pursuits.

This publication appeared in so favourable a light to that eminent patron of science, Sir Joseph Banks, that I should accuse myself of unjustifiable remissness, were I to neglect this opportunity of introducing an extract from the copy of a letter addressed by him to the late Mr. Jacob, which is now in my possession.

“We” (the Royal Society) “are all much obliged to you for the pains you have taken in bringing this work to light. Natural history is, I am convinced, more benefited by a thin volume of real new facts, which is the case in yours, than by a folio of comments generally written by those who mean to receive praise, more founded on the elegance with which they express the ideas they conceive, than on any prospect of utility to be derived from the ideas themselves. From such naturalists, De Buffon, &c. good Lord deliver our honest science.”

That truly amiable, and no less intelligent lady, the late Duchess Dowager of Portland, likewise expressed her approbation of the work in a letter to Mr. Boys.

By this publication, a number of shells, heretofore unknown, are added to the British conchology, sufficient to shew that the path is now laid open and made easy of access to inquisitive naturalists in different parts of the kingdom for still greater discoveries. Indeed, it is rather extraordinary, that the authors of this country, who have so advantageously applied the microscope to a variety of objects in the animal kingdom, should have neglected to examine the shores of our own seas, crowded as they are with objects equally worthy of their investigation. Baker’s observation in his “Employment for the Microscope,” p. 244, is entitled to more attention than has been paid to it. “Shell-fish,” says he, “are objects that have as yet been very slightly examined by the microscope, and therefore the serious inquirer into nature’s secret operations may here be certain of discovering beauties, which at present he can have no conception of.” But thus it is, nature opens her rich and inexhaustible treasures by slow degrees to the inquisitive mind of man. In fact, different observers have generally different pursuits, otherwise these objects would scarcely have escaped the attention of many ingenious naturalists, particularly the quick-sighted Mr. Ellis, who has so clearly investigated and described the corals and corallines of the adjacent coasts.

To those who have perused the treatise of Plancus, already mentioned, it is necessary to observe, that though the sand on our coasts contain a vast variety of specimens, yet it by no means appears so productive as the sand of Rimini; lest, despairing of success in their first researches, they may be induced to desist from further examination. Every parcel will, however, be found to contain some of the more common shells.

It may not be improper here to point out to future inquirers the mode of facilitating the discovery of these minute objects. The sand being perfectly dried, put a handful on an open sheet of paper, and by gently shaking it from side to side, the minute shells, being specifically lighter than the sand, will be separated from, and lie on its surface, and will thus be more expeditiously procured than by any other method. It is also adviseable to place the objects intended for inspection in a situation secured from any sudden blast of air, otherwise, owing to their levity, they may be unexpectedly blown away, and a loss sustained of some of the rarer specimens; even incautiously breathing on them, or coughing, may be productive of similar disagreeable effects.

The following observations by an ingenious critic[153] are so apposite, and so perfectly coincident with my own sentiments on the subject, that I cannot resist the impulse I feel to enable the reader to partake of the pleasure which I have experienced in their perusal.

[153] Monthly Review, Vol. LXXI. p. 190.

“Let not the minuteness of the objects here delineated call up the surly inquiries of those, who have not been accustomed to live with their eyes open to the works of nature: they are not fit judges in these matters. If they will persist in asking, Of what use is all this labour? What good can accrue to mankind from this knowledge, in point of food, or other use? We know of none at all, either present or likely to happen, as to the body, for use or ornament, or to the satisfying any appetite: nevertheless, a much nobler idea will take its rise in our opinion; one which, by displaying so momentously the power of the omniscient Creator, will thwart the infidel in his favourite ideas of escaping the eyes of the Almighty, and force him, as he descends the scale from the more immense objects to these minutissima, to confess, that the being which has formed these, can fully equal all that the tongue of man has yet declared of the possibility of his power. For, what a train of wonders have we here to pursue? What must be the œconomy of animals so very diminutive, so weak, so exposed from their situation to the force of every rude wave, and who, notwithstanding, so often escape unhurt? How do they rear their young? From whence collect their prey?”

A DESCRIPTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF MINUTE AND RARE SHELLS.[154]

[154] Being possessed of Mr. Jacob’s own corrected copy of the work,
to which he has annexed the trivial names, I am thereby enabled to
affix them to the several shells here enumerated.

SERPULA.

_THE WORM-SHELL._

SERPULA BICORNIS. Plate XIV. Fig. 2. S. bicornis ventricosa. The bellied semilunar worm-shell.

The colour white, opake, and glossy. From Sandwich and Reculver, though not common.

SERPULA PERFORATA. Fig. 3. S. bicornis umbilico perforato. The semilunar perforated worm-shell.

The colour white, opake, and glossy. From Sandwich: very rare.

SERPULA LACTEA. Fig. 4. S. tenuis ovalis lævis. The thin, smooth, egg-shaped worm-shell.

The colour pellucid, with milky veins. From Sandwich: not common.

SERPULA LAGENA SULCATA. Fig. 5. S. (lagena) striata sulcata rotunda. The round striated and furrowed flask worm-shell.

The colour whitish, transparent, and glossy. From Sandwich, Reculver, and Shepey: very rare.

SERPULA RETORTA. Fig. 6. S. (retorta) rotunda marginata cervice curvatim exerto. The marginated retort worm-shell.

The colour white and opake. From Sandwich: not common.

SERPULA INCURVATA. Fig. 7. S. recta anfractibus tribus contiguis regulariter involutis. The straight horn worm-shell, with three close intorted spires at the tip.

The colour white, semitransparent. From Sandwich: rare.

This shell, though resembling the semilituus of Linnæus, p. 1163, No. 280, is not of the genus of Nautilus, having neither syphon in the aperture, nor the internal concamerated structure.

DENTALE.

_THE TOOTH-SHELL._

DENTALIUM IMPERFORATUM. Fig. 8. D. apice imperforata transverse striatum. The imperforated transversely striated tooth-shell.

The colour white and opake. From Sandwich: not very common.

PATELLA.

_THE LIMPET._

PATELLA ROTA. Fig. 9. P. plana orbiculata margine regulariter dentato. The toothed-wheel limpet.

The colour white and opake. From Sandwich: extremely rare.

HELIX.

_THE DEPRESSED SNAIL._

HELIX CARINATA. Fig. 10. H. striata apertura compressa tribus anfractibus carinata. The striated suboval-mouthed snail, of three spires and a sharp edge.

The colour light brown pellucid. In a fresh water stream, near Faversham.

HELIX SPINOSA. Fig. 11. H. subglobosa umbilicata ore subrotundo margine spinoso. The roundish mouth deeply umbelicated snail with a thorny margin.

The colour brown pellucid. From Bysing Wood, near Faversham: exceeding rare.

HELIX RETICULATA. Fig. 12. H. unici anfractus subumbilicata apertura rotunda marginata eleganter reticulata. The round mouthed reticulated single spired slightly subumbilicated snail.

The colour white and pellucid. From Reculver: extremely rare.

HELIX STRIATA. Fig. 13. H. striata apertura subovali anfractibus supradorsalibus. The oval mouthed striated snail with the spires reflected on the back.

The colour greenish, white pellucid. From Sandwich: very rare.

TURBO.

_THE PRODUCED SNAIL._

TURBO RETICULATUS. Fig. 14. T. subumbilicatus quatuor anfractibus reticulatis apertura subrotunda. The slightly umbilicated turbo with four reticulated spires, and a roundish aperture.

The colour white and pellucid. From Seasalter: very rare.

TURBO EBURNEUS. Fig. 15. T. quinque anfractibus ventricosis apertura subrotunda. The five spired ventricose turbo with a roundish mouth.

The colour white and opake. From Reculver: very rare.

TURBO STRIGATUS. Fig. 16. T. tribus anfractibus primo strigis tribus transversis apertura subovata. The three spired turbo, the first spire with three transverse ridges and a suboval aperture.

The colour opake white. From Seasalter: very rare.

TURBO ALBIDUS. Fig. 17. T. turritus septem anfractibus strigatis apertura ovali. The taper turbo with seven ridged spires and an oval aperture.

The colour opake white. From Sandwich: rare.

TURBO CARINATULUS. Fig. 18. T. turritus carinatus septem anfractibus apertura coarctata marginata. The taper carinated turbo with seven spires and a contracted marginated aperture.

The colour opake white. From Sandwich: very rare.

TURBO CLATHRATULUS. Fig. 19. T. clathratus sex anfractibus apertura ovali marginata. The barred six spired turbo with an oval marginated aperture.

The colour opake white. From Sandwich: exceeding rare.

TURBO CRASSUS. Fig. 20. T. crassus clathratus quinque anfractibus apertura rotunda marginata. The thick barred turbo of five spires and a round marginated aperture.

The colour opake white. From Sandwich: very rare.

TURBO PUNCTATUS. Fig. 21. T. turritus perversus novem anfractibus punctatis apertura coarctata. The reversed taper turbo of nine dotted spires and straitened aperture.

The colour light-brown opake. From Sandwich: not common.

TURBO SHEPEIANUS. Fig. 22. T. sex anfractibus reticulatis apertura ovali submarginata. The six spired reticulated turbo with an oval submarginated aperture.

The colour semipellucid white. From Shepey island: very rare.

TURBO SANDVICENSIS. Fig. 23. T. tribus anfractibus reticulatis apertura unidentata. The three spired elegantly reticulated turbo with a one toothed oval aperture.

The colour pellucid white. From Sandwich: exceeding rare.

TROCHUS.

_THE TOP-SHELL._

TROCHUS FUSCUS. Fig. 24. T. umbilicatus quinque anfractibus marginatus apertura subrotunda. The five spired umbilicated marginated top-shell with a roundish aperture.

The colour opake brown. From Sandwich: common.

BUCCINUM.

_THE WHILK._

BUCCINUM OBTUSULUM. Fig. 25. B. ampullaceum tribus anfractibus apertura ovali. The bellied whilk of three spires with an oval aperture.

The colour opake white. From Faversham Creek: very rare.

BUCCINUM LONGIUSCULUM. Fig. 26. B. turritum quinque anfractibus apertura ovali. The taper whilk of five spires with an oval aperture.

The colour white semipellucid and glossy. In Faversham Creek only; but not uncommon there.

VOLUTA.

_THE VOLUTE._

VOLUTA ALBA. Fig. 27. V. alba opaca longitudinaliter striata. The white opake volute. From Sandwich and Shepey island: not uncommon.

This shell resembles Mr. Pennant’s voluta Jonensis, but differs in the form of the aperture, as well as in the size.

BULLA.

_THE DIPPER._

BULLA REGULBIENSIS. Fig. 28. B. crassa apertura medio coarctata. The thick dipper, with a compressed aperture.

The colour white and opake. From Reculver: very rare.

NAUTILUS.

_THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS._

NAUTILUS BECCARII. Fig. 29. N. spiralis umbilicatus geniculis insculptis. The spiral umbilicated nautilus with deep joints.

The colour, while the fish is alive, is a fine pellucid crimson; when dead, is white. It is found alive on the fucus vesiculosus, and is a very common shell on all the coast, and seems to be an universal litoral one, by the numbers found at Rimini, and in the sand of the South Seas.

Lin. S. N. p. 1162, No. 276. Nautilus Beccarii. Planch. Tab. 1. Fig. 1. Gualtier, Tab. 19. Fig. H, H, I.

NAUTILUS CRISPUS. Fig. 30. N. spiralis geniculis crenatis. The spiral nautilus with crenated joints.

The colour opake white. The finest specimens are from Shepey: not uncommon.

Lin. S. N. p. 1162, No. 275. crispus. Planch. T. 1. f. 2. Gualt. T. 19. f. A. D.

NAUTILUS CALCAR. Fig. 31. N. spiralis apertura lineari geniculis elevatis. The spiral nautilus, with a narrow aperture and raised joints.

The colour opake white. From Shepey island: not common.

Lin. S. N. 1162, No. 274, calcar. Pl. T. 1. f. 3, 4. Gualt. T. 19. f. C. B.

NAUTILUS LÆVIGATULUS. Fig. 32. N. spiralis geniculis lævibus. The spiral nautilus with smooth joints.

The colour semipellucid, white and glossy. From Sandwich and Seasalter: not common.

NAUTILUS DEPRESSULUS. Fig. 33. N. spiralis utrinque subumbilicatus geniculis depressis plurimis. The spiral subumbilicated nautilus, with many depressed joints.

The colour opake white. From Reculver: very rare.

NAUTILUS UMBILICATULUS. Fig. 34. N. spiralis umbilicatus geniculis sulcatis. The umbilicated spiral nautilus, with furrowed joints.

The colour opake white. From Sandwich: not common.

NAUTILUS CRASSULUS. Fig. 35. N. spiralis crassus utrinque umbilicatus geniculis lineatis. The thick spiral doubly umbilicated nautilus, with fine joints.

The colour opake white. From Reculver: exceeding rare.

NAUTILUS LOBATULUS. Fig. 36. N. spiralis lobatus anfractibus supra rotundatis subtus depressioribus. The spiral lobated nautilus, with the spires rounded on the upper side, and depressed on the under.

The colour opake white. From Whitstable: not common.

NAUTILUS CARINATULUS. Fig. 37. N. oblongus carinatus apertura lineari ovali. The oblong carinated nautilus, with a narrow oval aperture.

The colour whitish, transparent like glass. From Seasalter and Sandwich: very rare.

NAUTILUS SUBARCUATULUS. Fig. 38. N. subarcuatus geniculis exertis. The bending nautilus with raised joints.

The colour opake brown. From Shepey island: very rare.

MYTILUS.

_THE MUSCLE._

MYTILUS PHASEOLUS. Fig. 39. M. lævis valvulis antice inflexis. The smooth muscle, with the valves inflected in front.

The colour brown and glossy. From a fresh water stream near Faversham: common.

MYTILUS PUNCTATULUS. Fig. 40. M. subrhombiformis punctatus. The subrombic dotted muscle.

The colour pellucid white. From Sandwich: common.

MYTILUS DISCORS. Fig. 41. M. discors areis tribus distinctis. The divided muscle.

The colour opake brown. From Sandwich: not common.

Lin. S. N. 1159, No. 261. Da Costa Br. Conch, p. 221. Tab. 17. f. 1. where it is exactly described, and as badly engraved.

ANOMIA.

_THE SCALE._

ANOMIA SQUAMULA. Fig.42. A. squamula. The scale anomia.

The colour opake white and glossy. From Sandwich: not uncommon.

Lin. S. N. 1151, No. 221. This shell is well described by Da Costa; but neither he, or Mr. Pennant, have caused it to be engraved.

ARCA.

_THE ARC._

ARCA MODIOLUS. Fig. 43. A. oblonga striata antice angulata. The oblong striated arc, with the foreside angulated.

The colour opake white. From Sandwich: not uncommon.

Lin. S. N. p. 1141, No. 171. Arca Modiolus.

CARDIUM.

_THE COCKLE._

CARDIUM MURICATULUM. Fig. 44. C. subcordatum antice muricatum. The heart cockle, with the front muricated.

The colour opake white. From Shepey island: not uncommon.

LEPAS.

_THE ACORN-SHELL._

LEPAS STRIGATULUS. Fig. 45. L. balanus striatus apertura obliqua. The striated acorn-shell, with an oblique aperture.

The colour light brown. From Sandwich, on the roots of sea-weeds, the finest specimens on lobsters: not uncommon.

ECHINUS.

_THE SEA-URCHIN._

ECHINUS LOBATULUS. Fig. 46. E. subrotundus planus lobatus. The flat roundish lobated echinus.

The colour opake white. From Reculver: rare.

ASTERIAS.

_THE STAR-FISH._

ASTERIAS TRIRADIATA. Fig. 47. A. triradiata lævis. The smooth three-rayed star-fish.

The colour white, transparent as glass. On all the different shores that have been examined.

Having thus described a few specimens of those pleasing microscopical objects, minute shells, I shall agreeably to the intimation given in the note to page 613, proceed to

A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF A VARIETY OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.[155]

[155] To the names as given by Dr. Parsons, those adopted by Linnæus
are here added.

LITHOSPERMUM OFFICINALE. Plate XV. Fig. 1. Ibid. Linn. Gromwell. This seed is in figure exactly like a human heart without the auricles, but has no flat or depressed part on its sides; it is pretty circular round its thickest part, and terminates in a blunt cone. At the thickest extremity there is a circular roughness, which is the umbilicus, and from thence to the cone on the shortest side it is bisulcated longitudinally; so that the space between the sulci is a kind of ridge, nor do either sulci or ridge extend to either extremity of the seed; the rest of the surface is smooth and polished, the ground a light ash-colour, with a shade or cloud of yellow or brown.

These seeds are very hard, and the ash-coloured shell is brittle like that of a hen’s egg; which being broken, appears to be lined with a light olive-coloured uniform membrane, which encloses a nucleus of a Spanish snuff-colour, pretty smooth, and of the same form with its shell, being in close contact with it all round.

The natural size of a middling grain of this seed is about the eighth part of an inch long, and the ninth of an inch in diameter at the roundest part.

CYMINUM. Fig. 2. Cuminum C. Linn. Cummin. This seed is double, though fixed side by side to one little stem; both which while together seem like one, and are ribbed in an uneven manner longitudinally, having great numbers of little threads or fibres sticking out all over them, which makes them look hoary. They are thick in the middle and run to a cone at each end. At the upper extremity there is an appearance like a bifurcation in the stilus, each of them belonging to its particular seed; this appears when the seeds are separated.

These seeds are of a darkish straw-colour, the little threads or fibres being much lighter than the body of the seed. Each of these seeds contains in it a kernel of an olive-colour, and exactly in shape like a waterman’s boat, and of the same proportion, having a concave and convex side; the latter has a blunt ridge like the keel of a boat, and the former has a white line from one end to the other, which proves to be a ridge, to which the stilus that rises from the little stem of the seed, adheres to support it.

When the seeds are together upon the stem their length is about the fifth part of an inch, and about an eighth part of an inch in the broadest part.

PAPAVER ALBUM. Fig. 3. P. somniferum. Linn. Poppy. This is a little yellowish white seed exactly resembling in shape a sheep’s kidney, having a yellow place about the hollow part, which is its umbilicus, analogous to the hollow part of the kidney into which the blood-vessels (emulgents) enter.

If it be viewed on the back or convex part, concealing the hollow, it is exactly shaped like an egg, having one end somewhat rounder than the other.

All over its surface it has superficial cells, formed by ridges that rise from the surface, which are some heptagons, some pentagons, but for the most part hexagons, though not precisely of equal sides; and the bottoms of these cells seem to be very porous.

The seeds seem very light and springy, as a gentle blast of ones breath is capable of blowing them away, or a touch of any thing of making them roll a considerable way. As to their size, they are not above a twenty-fourth part of an inch long, and about a thirtieth part broad or thick.

CARDUUS BENEDICTUS. Fig. 4. Centaurea Benedicta. Linn. Blessed Thistle. The body of this seed is about twice as long as it is thick, is round and shaped much like a nine-pin, only instead of being small at the upper end, it has a stricture, from whence arises a beautiful crown of ten angles or points, out of which come also ten aristæ or spiculæ like ivory, about the length of the body of the seed, running taper upward, and set round in an uniform manner. Within the circle of these long spikes there are ten more, which are but very short, and of the same colour and consistence with the others. When these are all plucked off, the vestiges of the circles they form appear in the upper surface of the crown; in the middle of which a little process arises, but very superficially. That part which appears circular is white, and the rest of this surface, of the corona, of the same colour with the rest of the body of the seed, which is a sort of an olive-colour.

The body of the seed is of the sulcated kind, and looks exactly like a fluted pillar, and the surface shines as if varnished with some gummy substance.

At the lower or small end of this seed, there is an opening reaching up above a third of the length of the body of the seed, which discovers a white root, shaped like a cone at the bottom, and rising thicker by degrees till it divides into three limbs; these run taper upwards, till they are lost in the parenchyma of the seed, which at the place of their entrance appears somewhat fungous, but is more compact and clammy through its substance.

The length of the body is more than two eighths of an inch, and the aristæ exactly the same length. The corona is its umbilicus.

PLANTAGO. Fig. 5. P. Major. Linn. Plantain. By the imperfect idea we have of this seed from its minuteness, it may seem like a flea, as any small speck would, if a little oblong; yet its form is not constant, that is, there are scarce two of them precisely alike, some being perfectly elliptical, some with blunt angles, and some approaching a spheroid. They have a whitish mark on one side, which is the umbilicus of the seed, from whence the first rudiments of the plant spring, and the surface is entirely granulated over, and has a general appearance like some kinds of plumb-stones; the surface also shines a little, as if oiled or moist, and their colour is brown. One of the seeds cut transversely appears to have the shell or covering pretty strong in proportion to its size, which contains a parenchyma that is very porous and succulent. It is about a sixteenth part of an inch long, and a twenty-second broad.

STAPHIS AGRIA. Fig. 6 and 7. Delphinum S. A. Linn. Stavesacre. The seeds of this plant are rough and angular, inclining to a triangle, although imperfectly so. They may be considered as having a basis or apex; the basis is thick and clumsy, and the apex runs to an angular point, which point is the umbilicus of the seed, out of which its first rudiments arise; it also has a convex and a plane or concave side; the former, Fig. 7, is rough, by reason of its being covered all over with porous cells, the ridges of which are also depressed or indented with rough pores, and granulated as if stuck full of sand. The concave surface, Fig. 6, is also rough, but not in the same manner, and so are the sides, which have a little flatness; these also are porous and sandy, and before the microscope, shine, and are coloured like dirty brown sugar-candy. The concave surface, notwithstanding the roughness, has one longitudinal ridge, and sometimes more, running from the basis to the apex, which has the same granulated surface with the rest. It contains a parenchyma, which is of a yellowish grey colour, and is moist and succulent.

This seed is in its natural size about two eighths of an inch long from its basis to the apex, and near as broad; however, some are broader in proportion to their length than others, and they are one eighth of an inch thick.

ANISUM. Fig. 8 and 9. Pimpinella A. Linn. Anise. Two of these seeds grow together upon one little stalk; when they are pulled asunder, they appear to have a flat and a convex surface. On the convex surface, Fig. 8, each seed has three ribs placed at equal distances from one another, which are porous and a little rough, being of a straw-colour; and the spaces between them are also rough and porous, but of an olive-colour. The flat surface, Fig. 9, has a white ridge running longitudinally from its basis to the apex in the middle; this white ridge or line serves to cling to the stilus, upon which it sticks. The stilus is also white, and has the same contexture with the ridge, and is bifid, in order to support two seeds with their flat sides together, which keeps them the more compact and less liable to injuries than if a single seed stuck on. It is certain, a single stilus would do as well to support two seeds as the bifid one, for even the two stick together as if single, if there was not a necessity for a double stilus, for a very important reason; which is, that when the seeds are ripe, they would stick on a single one, till the time of their being scattered about would pass, which would be a detriment to their propagation; but the stilus being double, and of a springy nature, the two parts are glued together, as long as moisture remains about the seeds capable of keeping them together; but when the seeds are grown ripe and dry, then this moisture is exhaled, and the stilus, as well as the flat surfaces of the seeds, begin to contract from their former plumpness; the stilus first begins to split asunder, and thereby separates the two surfaces of the seeds, each of which sticks loosely to its particular limb of the stilus; till at length the remaining moisture exhaling more and more, it grows rigid, and cracks with a blast of wind, and so the seed is scattered or sown in the ground in its due time. This is a most excellent provision of nature, and highly worth regard.

When the two seeds are sticking together, they have a round end which is the basis, and grow smaller by degrees upward, till they become an apex, having upon each seed a kind of fungous or bulbous corona, which is the umbilicus of the seed; and the shape of the two together may be compared to that of a given fig reversed. The parenchyma of these seeds is that of a pale greenish olive-colour. They are more exactly of a size than most other seeds, and are each one-eighth part of an inch long, and more than half that breadth.

FŒNICULUM DULCE. Fig. 10 and 11. Anethum F. Linn. Sweet Fennel. In viewing these seeds, they do not look much unlike one species of the cucumber in general, some of them being thicker and longer than others, and some straighter; but upon applying the microscope, the ridges appear high, and form deep furrows.

Two of these seeds grow together upon the same little stalk, which is divided, like that of the anise seed, into a double or bifid stilus, in the same manner, and for the same reasons; when the two are pulled asunder, they appear to have a flat surface, Fig. 10, and a round and ridged one, Fig. 11. On the former, these characters are conspicuous: viz. 1. The whitish cortex or covering of the seed shews its edge distinctly. 2. Withinside this edge a white fungous substance appears running parallel to, and in close contact with it, on each side from end to end, being both together about one-third of the breadth of the seed; and between these, in the center, there appears a dark brown elliptical substance, which, upon separating the cortical and fungous coverings, appears to be a nucleus, whose internal substance is of an olive colour and something succulent. On the external surface there appears three high ridges, and when the flat faces of the seeds are close together upon the stilus, so as to seem but one, these three ridges on each seed and the two edges of each meeting firmly together, form eight regular ridges equally divided upon that round body that we have before said to resemble a cucumber. The extremity which is fixed to the stem is smaller than the other; the latter has a fungous kind of process arising from the body of the seed, which is the umbilicus of the seed. The ridges are of a light straw-colour, and the bottoms of the sulci they form are darkish. A middling seed is somewhat more than two-eighths of an inch long, and above half that breadth.

GRANA PARADISI. Fig. 12 and 13. Amomum G. P. Linn. Grains of Paradise. These seeds are of an irregular form, but may be said to have a basis and apex; the basis is generally so flat as to render it capable of standing well upon it; the sides consist of several flats and angles, and the apex looks very much like the mouth of a purse drawn or gathered up close together.

The body of the seed is of a reddish brown colour, the surface much granulated and rough; and the apex, which is its umbilicus, degenerates from this reddish brown colour into a yellow, appearing in little oblong ridges or plates.

Upon making a transverse section of this seed, a most beautiful appearance presents itself; the external cortex is very thin, and retains the same colour through its substance with the outer surface; this incloses a black, porous, pitchy substance, which is much thicker than the cortex, in close contact with it, and at the angles of the seed is pretty considerable. Next to this the parenchyma appears, as white as the finest white salt, and radiated from the center outward; and in this transverse section seems to have a round hole in the center of one of the divided parts, and a process answerable to it in the other. If a longitudinal incision be made through the middle, the appearance will be as in Fig. 13, when the center of the white parenchyma appears exactly like a modern vinegar glass, commonly called a cruet, the bottom of which tends obliquely towards the basis, and the top towards the apex of the seed. The surface of this part looks polished, and the colour is a yellowish olive; nor does it look unlike a gummy or resinous body; however, we cannot be certain what its substance is, notwithstanding its great resemblance to that kind of matter. The white parenchyma is very singular, being almost divided into two lobes by this little cruet, whose top runs up into or is lost in a remarkable circular part, which has a rising towards the umbilicus of the seed in form of an acorn, and this rising stands in the open place, into which the pursy umbilicus leads. As to its natural dimensions, an ordinary seed is somewhat more than the eighth of an inch long, and about an eighth thick.

PETROSELINUM. Fig. 14. Apium P. Linn. Common Parsley. The seeds of this garden parsley, being of the umbellated kind, grow two upon a little stem, whose bifid stilus supports them like the ammi or smallage; they are striated or ribbed like those, having three of such ribs on the convex part, spread further asunder, and being much more conspicuous than those of either of the seeds just mentioned. There is another rib which runs on each side of the seed, which is its lateral rib, and that which runs round the edge of the flat surface makes it resemble the edge or gunnel of a barge or lighter, to which each of these bears some resemblance. This seed is considerably larger than either, and much longer in proportion to their size; the colour of the interstices between the ribs is a dusky olive, and the ribs of an oaker yellow. They are pretty round where they rest on the stem, and run up elliptically to an apex, where there is a fungous corona, which is the umbilicus. In making a transverse section through the middle of one of them, the parenchyma appears of the same form with the cortex, having this remarkable property, that between the ridges or ribs are canals, formed of the cortex and the surface of the parenchyma, containing a brown balsamic fluid, with which they are filled from one end to the other of the seed; and in some seeds this balsam appears all round between the parenchyma and the cortex. This will be further explained when we come to speak of the seseli, in which this is so apparent, that a transverse view of that seed will serve for both. The parenchyma is somewhat succulent, and of a greyish olive colour. An ordinary seed is one-eighth of an inch long, and about a sixteenth thick.

PETROSELINUM MACEDONICUM. Fig. 15 and 16. Bubon Macedonicum. Linn. Macedonian Parsley. These are long slender elliptical seeds, growing like the seeds of other umbelliferous plants, two together on the stem and bifid stilus; when they are pulled asunder they appear each to have a convex or back side, and a flat part or belly. The convex side, Fig. 15, may be said, from its roundness at one end, and smallness at the other, to have a basis and apex; the former is round, and after swelling a little towards the middle, runs taper upwards, till within one-fifth of its length there arise two rough hairy processes, one on each side, like ears, and the rest runs to a point; so that the entire back surface is a near representation of a mouse lying flat. The colour of the body of this seed is a kind of olive, but the hoary fibres all over are of an ash-colour, and the striæ or ridges much the same.

The flat surface, Fig. 16, is of a brown colour and porous, having none of these fibres upon it; and is surrounded by an edge or ridge, like those on the back of the seed, which are also hoary. Upon this surface the bifid stilus is apparent, one extremity of which terminates at a hollow part, that may be likened to the under jaw of the mouse, between the roots of the ears; and the other stands loose, to which the fellow-seed was also attached.

The ridges are also hollow, like those of the garden parsley, and contain such a balsamic fluid as that; but this being so exceedingly slender, requires the greatest magnifier of the microscope for opake objects to discern it. This seed is about an eighth of an inch long, and about a twentieth broad.

CORIANDRUM. Fig. 17, 18, and 19. C. sativum. Linn. Coriander. The seed of common coriander is spherical when entire, and may be said to have two poles; the lower, or that into which the stem is fixed, which forms a fungous hole, and the upper or little apex, as at Fig. 17, this is the umbilicus of the seed. From one of these poles to the other several ridges or striæ run like the lines of longitude upon the globe, between which there are several roughnesses; they are of a yellowish oaker colour, and about the sixth of an inch in diameter, or something less.

Each of these seeds, upon being bruised, divides into two hemispheres, Fig. 18, which discovers the edges of the rigid cortex, on the concave side there is a rising, and within it a lens, concave on one side and convex on the other, Fig. 19, as it is turned out of the cortex. On the concave side is a rising in the middle extending from one pole to the other, and on each side just below the apex, there is a white roundish fungous spot rising from the surface, from each of which runs downward a little curved a ridge, which appears to be resinous; and the surface is rough, and has a great many particles of resin also.

SESELI. Fig. 20 to 24. S. Montanum. Linn. Long-leaved Meadow-saxifrage. This seed stripped of its foliaceous wings may be compared to a sort of canoo which is too narrow in proportion to its great length, has a hollow and a convex side, like that kind of boat, and is ridged longitudinally on its convex side, Fig. 20, from end to end, with four principal ridges; and between these, with others less considerable. There are, however, some of these seeds wider than others in proportion, but the majority are too long for their breadth, as I have said before.

These principal ridges are the support of the wings, and may be called their basis, for they rise broad from the body of the seed, and run out to a thin edge, which being continued constitute this leafy border. These are yellowish, and the spaces between them and the other less considerable ridges inclining to a brown.

On the concave side, Fig. 21, there is an edge or gunnel like that of a boat, and a considerable cavity from the edge; in the center of which the vestige of the stilus, Fig. 22, which is also bifid here, appears from one end to the other. The edge and this vestige are also of a yellowish colour, but the rest of the surface brown and porous, and the whole body of the seed and ridges shine, as if varnished over with some oily substance.

Fig. 23 is a view of the convex side of a seed divested of its wings, which is one of the most proportioned seeds I could pick out; at the upper extremity of which a little process may be perceived to turn or crook back upon the body; the same may also be discerned on that of Fig. 20. At the root of this process the opening or umbilicus of the seed lies.

Among the many beauties with which this seed abounds, there is one that is most agreeably surprising, which (says our author) I discovered by making a transverse section of one of them, in order to see what its internal substance consisted of. I no sooner applied the cut surface, Fig. 24, to my microscope, than each of the principal ridges, which I said above is the basis of the leafy wing, appeared to be a triangular tube, containing a fine brown liquid balsam of the colour of brown basilicon. This was a high entertainment, as every other curious discovery that arises by the diligent inspection of the seed is, and prompted my examining others in the same manner; and I found such a balsam as this common to the several kinds of parsley seeds also, as well as to that of the bishop’s weed and smallage; although these are so minute, that I could not be sensible of it but with difficulty, and with one of my greatest magnifiers. There is also something analogous to this in the sweet fennel and finoki, not in tubes of the husks or cortex, but rather in spungy channels that sink into the surface of the parenchyma, between the ridges of these last. The length of an ordinary seed is one-third of an inch, the thickness about an eighth, and the breadth of each wing nearly equal to the thickness of the body.

HYOSCYAMUS. Fig. 25. H. Niger. Linn. Common Henbane. After the calyx has split and cracked by drying, the seed-pot comes to be exposed to the heat of the sun, which also grows dry, by which the lid or cover becomes loose, having no other visible attachment to keep it on the edge of the pot but its moisture, which in some measure helps to keep it there by agglutination, as well as by the squeezing or pressure of the segments of the calyx. But, this moisture exhaling, and the calyx splitting off, the lid, being now dry, blows off with the first blast of wind, and scatters the seeds, which by this time are hard and ripe.

When the seeds are ripe they are of a light colour, like white-brown paper, and incline to a triangular figure, whose angles are rounded off. They are depressed on both sides, so as to become pretty flat, and their whole surface is cellular; the cells have no particular form, but are somewhat irregular, and the ridges that form them are pretty eminent. As the drawing appears, the seeds may be said to have a basis and an apex; the former has no other particular mark than the cells, but the latter has a kind of notch indented downward from the top, which is the umbilicus of the seed. The parenchyma appears of a greyish colour. A middling grain is about a sixteenth of an inch long, and not quite so broad in the broadest part.

CICER RUBRUM. Fig. 26 to 29. C. Arietinum. Linn. Chickpea. There is a good deal of reason for comparing the chiche grain to the head of a ram; for each of them, Fig. 26, consists of a round or back part, and an apex or snout. There are, besides this shape, which indeed favours the simile, several depressions upon the grain which add still to the likeness of that head; and these we shall consider in particular. On the upper or convex side there is, in most of them, a longitudinal little ridge, and a depression on each side, which resembles the rising in the frontal bone of a sheep; and, a little further forward, two risings, one on each side, which look like the superciliary eminences of the eyes. Each side of the round or occipital part has a depression that also adds to the same image; but what is yet a greater argument for it, is, that the under part, Fig. 27, is flattish, having an edge on each side, which may be compared to the edges of the under jaw. In the center of this flat part there is a little mamillary rising very remarkable, and just under the apex or snout an oval hole, whitish at the bottom, which is the umbilicus of the seed; besides which, there is an apparent sulcus on each side the apex, running a little way back, and is a close resemblance to the rictus oris. The husk is thin and fragile, and when taken off, looks like thin tortoise-shell; and the nucleus or parenchyma is of a yellowish white, exactly like the substance of a split-pea, without the covering. The entire nucleus has the same depressions which appear on its husk or cortex; and a fore view of it, Fig. 28, shews the naked apex, with the hole underneath, which is but superficial; and the seam which distinguishes the tip of the apex, I take to be the rudiment of the plant, for it is easily separated in that seam. The natural size of this seed appears, Fig. 29, being almost three-eighths of an inch from the apex to the outer edge of the basis, and something narrower.