Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia): Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-76, Vol. XVIIIHaeckel, Ernst
Science
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia): Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-76, Vol. XVIII
Haeckel, Ernst
Radiolaria
82. _The Calymma._--The calymma or extracapsular jelly-veil of the
Radiolaria is always the most voluminous portion of the extracapsulum, and
in spite of its simple structureless constitution is of great morphological
and physiological importance. In all Radiolaria this gelatinous mantle
completely surrounds the central capsule, but is separated from its outer
surface by a continuous, though thin, layer of exoplasm, the sarcomatrix.
The pseudopodia radiating from the latter pierce the calymma, form the
sarcodictyum at its surface, and radiate from its nodal points freely into
the surrounding water. The calymma is rarely visible in living freshly
captured Radiolaria, examined in sea-water, for its gelatinous substance is
perfectly hyaline, colourless and pellucid, and possesses the same
refractive index as sea-water; but when the object is removed from this
fluid and transferred to carmine solution or some other colouring matter,
the extent and figure of the calymma become apparent, for the staining
fluid does not at first penetrate into the gelatinous material. When this
has taken place, however (after a longer or shorter time), and the
gelatinous material has become coloured, its form and size may be observed
by the converse experiment; the object is transferred once more to water
and the outlines of the calymma become as clear as those of the central
capsule. The same is the case with dead specimens in which the sticky
surface of the calymma has become covered with dust.
The jelly-veil of the Radiolaria was recognised even by the earliest
observers of the group, Meyen (1834), and Huxley (1851), and compared
with that of the Palmellaria; the former noticed it in _Physematium_ and
_Sphærozoum_ (L. N. 1, p. 283), and the latter in _Thalassicolla_ and
_Collosphæra_ (L. N. 5, p. 433). In all these SPUMELLARIA, both in the
monozootic _Thalassicolla_ and in the polyzootic _Sphærozoum_ and
_Collosphæra_, the calymma is very voluminous and filled with large
alveoli. Meyen called them "muco-gelatinous masses, in the interior of
which are contained small equal-sized vesicles"; Huxley likewise found
clear vesicles in the jelly and compared them with Dujardin's vacuoles.
Johannes Müller observed the jelly-veil in many different Radiolaria, in
particular in the #Acanthometra#, first discovered by him, but
erroneously believed that it only originated {lii}after death by
liquefaction of the sarcode (L. N. 12, p. 6). This mistake is, however,
easy to understand, since in living Radiolaria the calymma is usually
invisible on account of its perfect transparency, whilst in dead
specimens it is usually quite distinct on account of the dust clinging to
its adhesive surface. I myself believed that the formation of the
voluminous hyaline jelly-veil was only partially due to liquefaction
after death, but that it was to some extent present in the living
organism and that it might vanish and subsequently reappear by means of
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