Anthropolite is a petrifaction of the human body or skeleton, or of parts of the body, by the incrusting action of calcareouswaters, and hence hardly to be considered fossil or sub-fossil. Research Anthropolite
Bog is the name given to a piece of wet, soft, and spongy ground, where the soil is composed mainly of decaying and decayed vegetable matter. Such ground is valueless for agriculture until reclaimed, but often yields abundance of peat for fuel.
A bog seems usually to be formed as follows: A shallow pool induces the formation of aquatic plants, which gradually creep in from the borders to the deeper centre. Mud accumulates round their roots and stalks, and a semi-fluid mass is formed, well suited for the growth of moss, particularly Sphagnum, which now begins to luxuriate, continually absorbing water, and shooting out new plants above as the old decay beneath; these are consequently rotted, and compressed into a solid substance, gradually replacing the water by a mass of vegetable matter. A layer of clay, frequently found over gravel, assists the formation of bog by its power of retaining moisture. When the subsoil is very retentive, and the quantity of water becomes excessive, the superincumbent peat sometimes bursts forth and floats over adjacent lands.
Bogs are generally divided into two classes: red bogs, or peat-mosses, and black bogs, or mountain mosses. The former class are found in extensive plains frequently running through several counties, such as the Chatmoss in Lancashire, and the Bog of Alien in Ireland, the depth varying from 3.6 to 13 metres. Their texture is light and full of filaments, and is formed by the slow decay of mosses and plants of different kinds. The lower parts, being more entirely decayed, approach nearer to the nature of the humus than the upper portion, and, as being more carbonaceous, are more valuable for fuel. Black bog is formed by a more rapid decomposition of plants. It is heavier and more homogeneous in quality, but is usually found in limited and detached portions, and at high elevations where its reclamation is difficult.
In Ireland bogs frequently rest on a calcareous subsoil, which is of great value in reclaiming them. In the reclamation of bog land a permanent system of drainage must be established; the loose and spongy soil must be mixed with a sufficient quantity of mineral matter to give firmness to its texture and fertilize its superabundant humus; proper manures must be provided to facilitate the extraction of nutriment from the new soil, and a rotation of crops adopted suitable for bringing it into permanent condition. The materials best adapted for reclaiming peat are calcareousearths, limestonegravel, shell-marl, and shell-sand. Thoroughly reclaimed bogs are not liable to revert to their former condition. Trunks of trees are often found in bogs as are also bones of extinct animals. Research Bog
The Amphineura is a class of Phylum mollusca. The body is bilaterally symmetrical. The mouth and anus are at opposite ends of the body. The foot is flattened and the mantle bears calcareous plates. Research Amphineura
The Aves are the bird class of Craniates. They are similar to the reptiles, but are warm-blooded vertebrates (like the mammals) and have become adapted to flying, although some of the 8700 species cannot fly. Birds have light, hollow bones, a four-chambered heart (as do the mammals), the fore limbs are modified to form wings (a characteristic shared with the bats), and uniquely the body is covered with feathers which are moulted and replaced each year. Unlike mammals birds lay calcareous eggs, the number varying with the species from one to twenty or more. The Aves class is a very large class of animals and is subdivided into two subclasses, the Archaeornithes containing the most primitive birds which are closely related to the reptiles, and the Neornithes containing the more advanced birds. The Neornithes are again divided into four major divisions: the Odontognathae, or toothed birds; the Ichthyornithes which are all fossil forms with vertebrae like those of fish; the Impennes containing the penguins; and the
Neognathae which a more specialized modern type of palatal structure. These divisions are further subdivided into orders, sub-orders and families. Research Aves
Crab is a popular name for crustacea of the sub-order Brachyura and to many of the Anomura of the order Decapoda. The true crabs (Brachyura) are characterised by having a small abdomen and the head and breast are united, forming the cephalothorax, and the whole is covered with a strong carapace.
The mouth has several pairs of strong jaws, in addition to which the stomach has its internal surface studded with hard projections for the purpose of grinding the food. The stomach is popularly called the 'sand-bag'; a little behind it is the heart, which propels a colourless lymph (the blood) to the gills (' dead man's fingers'). The liver is the soft, rich yellow substance, usually called the fat of the crab. They 'moult' or throw off their calcareous covering periodically.
They have ten legs, of which the first pair are modified as claws, and the remaining pairs are used for locomotion. There are many genera, distinguished from the lobster and other macrurous or long-tailed decapods by the shortness of their tail, which is folded under the body. Their eyes are compound, with hexagonal facets, and are pedunculated, elongated, and movable. Like most individuals of the class, they easily lose their claws, which are as readily renewed. They are generally scavengers, living on decaying animal matter, though others live on vegetable substances, as the racer-crabs of the West Indies, which suck the juice of the sugar-cane.
Most crabs inhabit the sea, others fresh water, some the land, only going to the sea to spawn. Of the crabs several species are highly esteemed as an article of food, and the fishery constitutes an important trade on many coasts. The large edible crab (Cancer pagurus) is common on the British shores, and is much sought after. Research Crab
The crinoidea are the sea lily class of Phylum echinodermata consisting of animals attached during the whole or a portion of their lives to the sea-bottom by means of a calcareous jointed stem, from the top of which radiate feather-like flexible appendages or arms, in the centre of which is the mouth.. The body is cup shaped and attached to the substratum by a stalk. Both the mouth and anus are on the side of the body away from the stalk. The five main arms bifurcate, and on the branches are small side branches. Though comparatively few in number now, they lived in immense numbers in former ages, many carboniferous limestones being almost entirely made up of their calcareous columns and joints. Research Crinoidea
The cuttle-fish or cuttlefish is a name popularly applied to various ten-armed molluscs of the class Cephalopoda. They have an elongated body with an undulating lateral fin and the habit of ejecting a black fluid when alarmed and are distinguished from the squid by their internal calcareous shell (known as cuttle-bone). Research Cuttle-Fish
The Echinus (Sea-Urchins or Sea-Eggs) are a genus of marine animals, the type of an order (Echinoidea) of the class Phylum Echinodermata. The body is more or less globular and covered with a test or shell, often beset with movable spines. Locomotion is effected by a singular system of ainbulacra or 'tube-feet', which are distended with water, protruded through pores, and again retracted. The mouth is situated on the inferior surface, generally in the centre, is armed with calcareousteeth, and opens into a gullet conducting to a distinct stomach. The stomach has issue into a convoluted intestine which winds round the interior of the shell and terminates in a distinct anus. The anus varies in position, being sometimes on the apical disc and sometimes marginal. The Echinus esculentus and some other species are edible. Research Echinus
Globigerina is one of the Foraminifera, a microscopic animal having a many- celled shell found fossilised in the chalk and tertiary formations and alive in the seas where shells of the abundant dead animals form vast calcareous deposits of mud known as globigerina ooze. Research Globigerina
Holothuria is the typical type of an order of Echinoderms, the Holothurioidea or sea-cucumbers. This order is destitute of the calcareous plates typical of the class, but has a leathery integument open at both ends, and pierced by orifices through which suctorial feet or ambulacra protrude. They have the mouth surrounded by tentacula; a long convoluted alimentarycanal; respiratory organs near the anus, and generally in the form of two branching arborescent tubes (forming the respiratory tree) into which the water is admitted; and the organs of both sexes in each individual. They are capable of extending themselves to several times the length they have in a state of repose, and of extraordinary reproduction of parts, even of vital organs. The young undergo a metamorphosis during development. They abound in the Asiatic seas, the beche-de-mer or trepang being a member of the family. Research Holothuria
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Anthropolite
