Cornwallite, conicalcite and other minerals from the Reconquistada prospect, Dolores mine, Pastrana, Mazarrón, Murcia

The “Reconquistada” claim is made up of small extractive mining works near the “Dolores” iron mine, in the municipality of Pastrana (Murcia, Spain). In this area there are various exploitations that benefited copper ores. In the case of the “Reconquistada” mineral species, the presence of arsenic in the mineral composition made copper extraction difficult.

From a scientific point of view, these mining works have been important due to the numerous species found. Three of them were identified for the first time worldwide in this mines: barahonaite-(Fe), barahonaite-(Al) and cobaltarthurite (Jambor et al., 2002; Viñals et al., 2008).

But there are other interesting and very colourful minerals. Two of them are very similar in appearance, but distinguishable under magnification: cornwallite and conichalcite. Both are copper arsenates, but conichalcite contains calcium. Cornwallite appears as spherical globules, with a smooth and very brilliant surface, usually with a lighter green color than conichalcite. Conichalcite tends to have a rough surface and a more intense colour.

In this specimen of the photograph, various botryoidal aggregates of conichalcite could be observed, with the characteristics described before, together with an isolated sphere of cornwallite. They are disposed on a matrix with yukonite (an iron and calcium arsenate).

Globular aggregates of conichalcite with internal radiated crystals

Spicules bring light

Sponges, like all animals, possess some sort of a skeleton that gives their bodies shape. As a whole, poriferans have diverse skeletal elements including calcareous laminae, organic filaments, and siliceous and calcareous spicules. The skeletons of each of the major poriferan groups are distinctive and have been used to reconstruct their evolutionary relationships.

This is a second brief publication about spicules, but this image is completely different however; here the darkfield technique has been adapted, using a turret condenser.

Chaoborus larva

These are free-swimming larvae of so called phantom midges or lake flies and inhabit the area between the bottom and the surface of ditches. They are hunters of small crustaceans such as daphnia and cyclops. These animals are practically transparent, and are therefore also called glass larvae. (For the sake of clarity, the preparation has been stained)

With the help of air bubbles in the fore and abdomen, they remain in balance with the water and float unseen through ditches, swimming with leaping movements. They grow to about 1 cm to 1.5 cm long. When two larvae meet each other, a tumble around each other occurs.

Typical for dicotyle plants

On the photos we see a cross section of the root of the Ranunculus. The specific arrangement of primary tissues shown here, is typical of dicotyle plants.

Plasmacytoma dog

In the preparation shown here a biopsy taken from the skin of a seven-year-old Golden Retriever, many plasma cells can be seen. We also see anisocytosis and anisokaryosis. The coarse chromatin in the nucleus indicates that something may be wrong. Plasma cells are part of the immune system and are usually found in lymphatic tissue and mucosal surfaces. Plasma cells are immunoglobulin-producing cells that originate from B lymphocytes and are characterized in particular by a large amount of cytoplasm, an eccentrically located nucleus and a perinuclear optically empty court.

Clematis vitalba, a dicotyle poisonous plant

Clematis vitalba is a perennial from the ranunculus family or Ranunculaceae. It is a dicotyle plant which can be seen from the regular concentric distribution of the vascular bundles in the cross section of the twig. It is a woody climbing plant that occurs in forests and scrubland on calcareous soils. It grows in light places in forests, forest edges, hedges, fences and wooded banks, scrubland in the dunes, along railways, along river dikes, floodplains and waterfronts.

What makes a human tooth

The images of a cross-section of the root of a tooth (a ground preparation) show various details of the structure of a tooth. Many of the visible details will not be discussed here. To go more deeply, scientific literature is available.

What’s in a buttercup bud?

The images shown are taken from a beautifully colored prepared slide from the archives of the Royal Antwerp Society for Micrography. The slide is already quite old, from 1988. It shows a cross-section of a bud of the buttercup (Ranunculus) In spite of the age of the slide, the colors are still clear and fresh. Coloring has been carried out with the dyes sun-yellow, crocein scarlet and astra blue. The very thin coupe has been embedded in the resin Euperal. The use of yellow and blue colored dyes, resulted in green colored plant tissues, which is quite special.

Fibrosarcoma cat

A fibrosarcoma is a malignant tumor of mesenchymal connective tissue cells. Fibrosarcoma mainly occurs as a solitary tumor in the older cat. It can occur in several parts of the body. Usually on the trunk and often also between the shoulder blades, because injections are usually given here. First there is an injection site reaction that degenerates neoplastic. The rabies vaccine is known to be a possible cause of this. It is a malignant derailment of the dermal and subdermal connective tissue cells. The sarcoma grows locally very infiltratively and aggressively, not metastasizing quickly. But if so, then to the lungs and lymph nodes. Fibrosarcoma can also occur in young cats. In these cases it is often induced by a virus and there are multiple tumors over the entire body.

No movement without motor nerve cells

Nerve cells or neurons are cells that you need for example when picking up a pen or in the reaction to contact with a hot or cold object etc. There are three types of nerve cells: sensory, motor and relay nerve cells.

Sensory nerve cells can be found throughout the body. The sensory nerve cells are the cells that collect information, e.g. if something hurts or feels hot or cold etc. The sensory nerve cells send this information to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) where it is processed.

Malaria

Malaria has been recognized since the Greek and Roman civilizations over 2,000 years ago, with different patterns of fever described by the early Greeks. Malaria is the most important tropical disease known to man. It remains a significant problem in many tropical areas, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is spreading as a result of environmental changes, including global warming, civil disturbances, increasing travel and drug resistance. There are approximately 100 million cases of malaria worldwide with about 1 million of these proving fatal.

Pear rust and Junipers

Pear Rust is an increasingly common fungal disease in pear trees. This disease can significantly slow the growth of a pear tree, and the tree will also give less fruits. Pear Rust is a fungus that cannot stay the whole year on the pear: in winter the tree has no leaves and the fungus is only present there. In winter, the fungus needs a Juniper to overwinter. After the winter the fungus makes spores, which are spread through the air. The spores fall on the pear tree, causing the fungal disease.

Cleverly adapted to the amount of light

In addition to water, carbon dioxide, mineral salts, and heat, light is one of the factors which are of vital importance for the green plant. It provides energy for the photosynthesis and brings about the growth and development of plant forms. In addition to the light on itself, also the light intensity plays an important role. The leaves of deciduous trees are the place where the energy required for the plant is formed by photosynthesis and assimilation. This is done in the chlorophyll-containing cells of the palisade layer. There below is loose fill and aerenchyma tissue. Outwardly a leaf is sealed off by a layer of epidermal cells, the outer walls thereof are thickened.


In fact, the light influences the construction of the plant and its leaves. We find sun leaves on the outer edge of the crown and on the south side of it, shade leaves

How to be heat and drought resistant?

The Oleander has big, red, white or yellow, highly fragrant flowers. The 7 - 8 m high shrubs are spread from the Mediterranean to East Asia, growing in sunny locations and near watercourses. In North West Europe it is often drawn as a container plant.

Its leathery, lance-shaped leaves show the characteristics of xeromorphic - that means drought resistant - sun plants. Oleander is adapted to the very hot and dry borders of watercourses in summer.