An Elementary Text-book of the Microscope: including a description of the methods of preparing and mounting objects, etc.Griffith, J. W. (John William)
Science
An Elementary Text-book of the Microscope: including a description of the methods of preparing and mounting objects, etc.
Griffith, J. W. (John William)
Microscopy
Near the root or base of the mandibles on each side is a jointed feeler,
or pal´pus; but spiders have no anten´næ. The eyes are simple, forming
separate round shining dots, and are called _ocel´li_ (_ocel´lus_, a
little eye); they are usually placed on the top of the head, and are
often arranged in a geometrical form, as a triangle, &c.
The legs are four pairs; they are hairy, and terminated by two or three
claws, which are fringed with minute teeth, or pec´tinate. These claws
serve to comb the fibres of the web, just as we comb our hair with a
common comb.
The _spinnerets_, with which spiders form their web, are very curious
organs. They are situated at the under and hind part of the body, and
consist of two or three cones, or papillæ, on each side. On the summits
of these papillæ are very numerous bristle-like tubes, through which the
secretion of certain glands passes; this secretion, when hardened by
exposure to the air, forms the fibres of the web.
On carefully examining a spider’s web, the radial fibres, or those which
pass from the centre to the circumference, will be found to be smooth,
these fibres serve to fix the web; while the cross fibres are covered
with numerous viscid globules, which serve to attach flies or other prey
to them. This difference of the fibres is best observed with a
hand-lens.
ACARÍNA, or the Order of Mites.--Here belongs cheese-mite, _Ac´arus
domes´ticus_ (Pl. IX. fig. 36). Its body is somewhat milky white, oval,
and furnished with feathery hairs. When viewed from beneath, there is
seen a transverse line, indicating the separation of the thorax from the
abdomen; and another line in front of this, with four minute tubercles,
from each of which arises a hair. The head is pointed and beak-like,
forming a _ros´trum_ (_rostrum_, a beak), consisting of two mandibles
pressed together; these can only be seen to be separate when dissected
apart with the mounted needles. Each mandible is chélate (χηλἠ,
forceps), or has the form of a lobster’s claw; and beneath the two
mandibles is a flat membranous under lip or labium, consolidated on each
side with a palp. The legs are four pairs, as in all the Arachnida; they
are pinkish, 6-jointed, and terminated by a leaflike sucker and a minute
claw.
The males (fig. 38) are smaller than the females, the fore legs being
much stouter, and furnished with a blunt tooth (fig. 38 _a_). The eggs
can often be distinguished within the body of the female (fig. 36);
they are oval and granular.
Another species of _Acarus_, _A. sac´chari_, is found abundantly in
ordinary moist sugar. If a little of the sugar be placed in a
wine-glass, some water added, and the mixture be stirred until the sugar
is dissolved, the _Acari_ will be found both in the sediment and
floating on the surface.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account