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P a lm e lla Mooreana. Harv. Man. p. 178.
Thallns irregnlarly globose, tiiberculate, dark green, gelatinous,
firm. Cells nearly equal, pale green.
S i z e . Cells-008 X 005 mm.
Eabh. Alg. iii. p. 34.
Coccochloris Mooreana, Hass. Alg. .316, t. 78, f. 1.
In bogs and stagnant water.
“ The fronds are of an irregular globose form, about an inch in
diameter, tubercuiated, and inclining to become hollow in the centre
when old, at which time it floats on the surface ; the colour is dark-
green and the substance firm, resembling that of an animal’s liver.”—
Moore.
We found this specie's floating freely in a pond in Sutton Park, Birmingham.
In this condition it has just the appearance and texture of a
Hostoc. Is it distinct from Aphanothece prasina ?
Plate V. fig, 4. a, plant natural size ; 6, portion X 400 diam.
** Reddish or orange.
P a lm e lla m inia ta , var. sequalis. Häg. JBinz. Alg. t. i, D. 2.
Thallus expanded, soft, amorphous, brick-red ; cells nearly
equal, tegument somewhat thick, colourless, hyaline, indistinctly
striate ; contents orange, sometimes greenish.
S i z e . Cells '012--014 m m .
Rabh. Alg. iii. 84. Eabh. Exs. No. 1778.
Sorospora grumosa, Hass. Alg. p. 310, t. 80, f. 7. ?
On wet rooks, moist ground, &c.
We are of opinion that this is the Sorospora grumosa of Hassall. The
typical form of Palmella miniata has very minute cells, not exceeding
•0035-'004 mm., but this variety, if it be not a distinct species, has cells
nearly four times as large.
Plate V.Jig. 2. Portion of thallus, magnified 400 diam.
P a lm e lla pxodigiosa. 31ont. Comptes Rend. 1852, 119.
Thallus more or less expanded, blood- red, as age advances
moist, or sometimes dripping ; cells very minute, globose,
crowded.
S i z e . Cells ■00075--001 mm. (Rahh:).
Rabh. Alg. iii. 34. Stephens, Ann. Nat. Hist. 2 Ser. (1853),
xii. 409. Berk, in Gard. Ohron. 1853, p. 515.
Monas prodigiosa, Ehrh. Monat. Berl. 1848.
Zoogalactina imetropha, Sette. Mem. Ven. 1824.
On rice, bread, potatoes, &c.
In the time of Ehrenberg this was considered a minute animal, and
was included amongst Monads. The blood.red spots which it forms on
bread, rice, potatoes, and other mealy substances, caused great alarm in
more superstitious times. Until very recently opinions were by no
means settled on this subject. The Eev. M. J. Berkeley held it to be a
condition of fungoid life, and in his “ Introduction”* he says, P a lmella
prodigiosa, from its peculiar habit, seems rather to indicate
afflnity with fungi. The rapidity with which it spreads over meat,
* “ Introduction to Cryptogamio Botany,” p. 114.
boiled vegetables, or even decaying Agarics, is quite astonishing, making
them appear as if spotted with arterial blood ; and what increases the
illusion is, that there are little detached specks, exactly as if they had
been squirted in jets from a small artery. The particles of which the
substance is composed have an active molecular motion, but the mor-
phosis of the production has not yet been properly observed, and till
that is the case it will be impossible to assign its place rightly in the
vegetable world. Its resemblance to the gelatinous specks which occur
on mouldy paste, or raw meat in an incipient state of decomposition,
satisfy me that it is not properly an Alga.” Mr. H. O. Stephens, on
the other hand, contends that it is an Algoid production. After narrating
its history (see “ Ann. Nat. Hist.,” 1853, p. 409), he says—“ I
observed at table the under surface of a half-round of boiled salt beef,
cooked the day before, to be specked with several bright carmine-
coloured spots, as if the dish in which the meat was placed had contained
minute portions of red currant jelly. On examination the next
day, the spots had spread into patches of a vivid oarmine-red stratum of
two or more inches in length.
“ With a simple lens the plant appears to consist of a gelatinous substratum
of a paler red, bearing an upper layer of a vivid red hue, having
an uneven or papillate surface. The microscope shows this stratum
to consist of generally globose cells immersed in or connected by mucilaginous
or gelatinous matter. The cells vary in size, and contain red
endochrome. As far as I can observe they consist of a single cell-
membrane, and contain a nucleus. Treated with sulpho-iodine, they
become blue. In my judgment this plant is a Palmella closely allied to
P. cruenta, but certainly distinct, the cells or granules of the latte r
differing from it not only in their colour but size.” The memoir also
contains observations on the great vitality of this species, and other
subjects connected therewith, to which the student is referred.
Plate V.Jig. 5. a, part of thallus, magnified 400 diam. ; h, portion
magnified 800 diam.
Genus 7. POB.PHYRIMÜOT. Nag. (1849.)
Thallus between gelatinous and membranaceous, somewhat
inorusting, long and broadly expanded, composed of globose or
many-sided cells. Multiplication of the cells by alternate division
in all directions. Propagation unknown.
This genus is placed by some authors in Porphyraceoe, near the genus
Bangia, in the class Bhodopliy ceoe (see Eabh. Alg. iii. 397), but we prefer
to retain it near the old genus Palmella, in which it -was previously included,
and to which it seems to be most naturally allied.
Porphyxidium c ru en tum . Nag. Ennz. Alg. t. 4 H.
Thallus dark purplish-red, gelatinous ; cells angular or
rounded.
S i z e . •007>01 mm. (Rabh.), ■0965--009 mm. (Kirch.).
Kirch. Alg. Schl. p. 111. Eabh. Alg. iii. 397.
Palmella cruenta, Ag. Syst. p. 15. Eabh. Exs. No. 14 and
1071. Hass. Alg. p. 808, t. 80, f. 5.
Tremella cruenta, Eng. Bot. t. 1800. Grev. Sc. Crypt. FI.
pi. 205.
On the naked ground, moist walls, &c. Common throughout
Europe.