Misplaced Pages

#698301

89-502: In the novel , the origin of the triffid species is never explained. The main character, Bill Masen speculates as follows: My own belief . . . is that they were the outcome of a series of ingenious biological meddlings—and very likely accidental, at that. Had they been evolved anywhere but in the region they were, we should doubtless have had a well-documented ancestry for them. The 1962 film adaptation portrays them as extraterrestrial lifeforms transported to Earth by comets, contradicting

178-601: A central nervous system , they display what he considers intelligence: And there's certainly intelligence there, of a kind. Have you noticed that when they attack they always go for the unprotected parts? Almost always the head—but sometimes the hands. And another thing: if you look at the statistics of casualties, just take notice of the proportion that has been stung across the eyes and blinded. It's remarkable—and significant. The triffids also show awareness by their habit of herding blind people into cramped spaces to kill more easily and rooting themselves beside houses, waiting for

267-503: A Sunday morning after a heavy bombardment, in letters to his long-term partner Grace Wilson. These found their way into The Day of the Triffids . The book has been praised by other science fiction writers. Karl Edward Wagner cited The Day of the Triffids as one of the thirteen best science fiction horror novels. Arthur C. Clarke called it an "immortal story". Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas praised it, saying: "rarely have

356-459: A barrier to chemicals dissolved in the blood, protecting the brain from most neurotoxins commonly found in food. Within the meninges the brain and spinal cord are bathed in cerebral spinal fluid which replaces the body fluid found outside the cells of all bilateral animals . In vertebrates, the CNS is contained within the dorsal body cavity , while the brain is housed in the cranial cavity within

445-470: A coiled tendril. Finally, the film triffids are vulnerable to sea water . The 2009 TV adaptation shows the triffids dragging themselves with prehensile roots which can also constrict their prey. Their stalk is surrounded by large agave -like leaves and they secrete their oil (green rather than the novel's pink) from their surfaces. Their stingers, which in previous film adaptations could not penetrate glass, are powerful enough to shatter windows, like those of

534-588: A colony on the Isle of Wight . Durrant's talk of Dorset was a deliberate attempt to throw Bill off on his journey to find Beadley. While Bill and the others are reluctant to leave their own settlement, the group decide to see the summer out in Sussex before moving to the Isle of Wight. Their plans are hurried by the arrival in an armoured car of the militaristic representatives of a self-appointed, despotic government. Bill recognises

623-566: A guide by a blind man. Intrigued by a single light on top of the Senate House in an otherwise darkened city, Bill and Josella discover a group of sighted survivors led by a man named Beadley, who plans to establish a colony in the countryside. They decide to join the group. The polygamy implicit in Beadley's scheme for rebuilding society appalls some group members, especially the religious Miss Durrant. However, before these plans can be put in place,

712-528: A man called Lysenko, to take a different course" (Chapter 2). Lysenkoism at the time of the novel's creation was still being defended by some prominent international Stalinists ." During the Blitz , Wyndham was a fire watcher and later member of the Home Guard . He witnessed the destruction of London from the rooftops of Bloomsbury . He described many scenes and incidents, including the uncanny silence of London on

801-422: A man named Wilfred Coker stages a fire at the university and kidnaps a number of sighted individuals, including Bill and Josella. They are each chained to a blind person and assigned to lead a squadron of the blind, collecting food and other supplies, all the while beset by escaped triffids and rival scavengers. Soon Bill's followers begin to fall sick and die of an unknown disease. When he wakes one morning to find

890-449: A night of heavy rain, they see a faint light in the distance. Upon reaching it, they discover Josella and her friends. The survivors attempt to establish a self-sufficient colony in Sussex with some success but are constantly under threat from the triffids, which mass around the fenced exterior. Several years pass, until one day a representative of Beadley's faction lands a helicopter in their yard and reports that his group has established

979-422: A number of primitive emotions or feelings such as hunger , thirst and maternal bonding . This is regulated partly through control of secretion of hormones from the pituitary gland . Additionally the hypothalamus plays a role in motivation and many other behaviors of the individual. The cerebrum of cerebral hemispheres make up the largest visual portion of the human brain. Various structures combine to form

SECTION 10

#1732847793699

1068-433: A person instantly. Once its prey has been stung and killed, a triffid will root itself beside the body and feeds on it as it decomposes. Triffids reproduce by inflating a dark green pod below the top of the funnel until it bursts, releasing white seeds (95% of which are infertile) into the air. It is not clear whether the triffids are intelligent or acting on instinct. The character Lucknor states that although triffids lack

1157-412: A region called the ventricular zone . The neural stem cells, principally radial glial cells , multiply and generate neurons through the process of neurogenesis , forming the rudiment of the CNS. The neural tube gives rise to both brain and spinal cord . The anterior (or 'rostral') portion of the neural tube initially differentiates into three brain vesicles (pockets): the prosencephalon at

1246-625: A symbolic negotiation of the British situation in the first few years after the Second World War. Elsewhere, I have also suggested that the curiously under-analysed triffids could be read as distorted metaphors for the colonised peoples of the British Empire—then in the middle of the process of decolonisation—coming back to haunt mainland Britain, much as the Martians did in H. G. Wells' The War of

1335-431: A triffid consists of a stem ending in a funnel-like formation containing a sticky substance which traps insects, much like a pitcher plant . Also housed within the funnel is a stinger which, when fully extended, can measure 10 feet (3.0 m) in length. When attacking, a triffid will lash the sting at its target, primarily aiming for its prey's face or head, with considerable speed and force. Contact with bare skin can kill

1424-455: A venomous sting). Adult triffids are typically 7 feet (2.1 m) in height. European triffids never exceed 8 feet (2.4 m); however, in tropical climates, they can reach 10 feet (3.0 m). The base of a triffid is a large muscle-like root mass, comprising three blunt appendages. When dormant, these appendages draw nutrients, as on a normal plant. When active, triffids use these appendages to propel themselves. The character Masen describes

1513-466: Is also subcortical gray matter making up a large number of different nuclei . From and to the spinal cord are projections of the peripheral nervous system in the form of spinal nerves (sometimes segmental nerves ). The nerves connect the spinal cord to skin, joints, muscles etc. and allow for the transmission of efferent motor as well as afferent sensory signals and stimuli. This allows for voluntary and involuntary motions of muscles, as well as

1602-404: Is significant in that it consists of CNS tissue expressed in direct contact to the environment, allowing for administration of certain pharmaceuticals and drugs. At the anterior end of the spinal cord lies the brain. The brain makes up the largest portion of the CNS. It is often the main structure referred to when speaking of the nervous system in general. The brain is the major functional unit of

1691-418: The capillaries of the brain. Upon CNS injury astrocytes will proliferate, causing gliosis , a form of neuronal scar tissue, lacking in functional neurons. The brain ( cerebrum as well as midbrain and hindbrain ) consists of a cortex , composed of neuron-bodies constituting gray matter, while internally there is more white matter that form tracts and commissures . Apart from cortical gray matter there

1780-456: The cerebellum and transmit information between the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex . In the dorsal posterior pons lie nuclei that are involved in the functions of breathing, sleep, and taste. The midbrain, or mesencephalon, is situated above and rostral to the pons. It includes nuclei linking distinct parts of the motor system, including the cerebellum, the basal ganglia and both cerebral hemispheres , among others. Additionally, parts of

1869-560: The mesencephalic duct (cerebral aqueduct). The metencephalon becomes, among other things, the pons and the cerebellum , the myelencephalon forms the medulla oblongata , and their cavities develop into the fourth ventricle . Rhinencephalon , amygdala , hippocampus , neocortex , basal ganglia , lateral ventricles Epithalamus , thalamus , hypothalamus , subthalamus , pituitary gland , pineal gland , third ventricle Tectum , cerebral peduncle , pretectum , mesencephalic duct Pons , cerebellum Planarians , members of

SECTION 20

#1732847793699

1958-465: The skull . The spinal cord is housed in the spinal canal within the vertebrae . Within the CNS, the interneuronal space is filled with a large amount of supporting non-nervous cells called neuroglia or glia from the Greek for "glue". In vertebrates, the CNS also includes the retina and the optic nerve ( cranial nerve II), as well as the olfactory nerves and olfactory epithelium . As parts of

2047-404: The striatum , the hippocampus and the neocortex , and its cavity becomes the first and second ventricles (lateral ventricles). Diencephalon elaborations include the subthalamus , hypothalamus , thalamus and epithalamus , and its cavity forms the third ventricle . The tectum , pretectum , cerebral peduncle and other structures develop out of the mesencephalon, and its cavity grows into

2136-427: The tectum ). The neocortex of monotremes (the duck-billed platypus and several species of spiny anteaters ) and of marsupials (such as kangaroos , koalas , opossums , wombats , and Tasmanian devils ) lack the convolutions – gyri and sulci – found in the neocortex of most placental mammals ( eutherians ). Within placental mammals, the size and complexity of the neocortex increased over time. The area of

2225-401: The vestibular organ . The two structures of the diencephalon worth noting are the thalamus and the hypothalamus. The thalamus acts as a linkage between incoming pathways from the peripheral nervous system as well as the optical nerve (though it does not receive input from the olfactory nerve) to the cerebral hemispheres. Previously it was considered only a "relay station", but it is engaged in

2314-449: The 116 genes involved in the nervous system of planarians, which includes genes related to the CNS, also exist in humans. In arthropods , the ventral nerve cord , the subesophageal ganglia and the supraesophageal ganglia are usually seen as making up the CNS. Arthropoda, unlike vertebrates, have inhibitory motor neurons due to their small size. The CNS of chordates differs from that of other animals in being placed dorsally in

2403-608: The 1951 copyright. A condensed version of the book also was serialized in Collier's magazine in January and February 1951. An unabridged paperback edition was published in the late 1960s, in arrangement with Doubleday, under the Crest Book imprint of Fawcett Publications World Library. Wyndham frequently acknowledged the influence of H. G. Wells ' The War of the Worlds (1897) on The Day of

2492-405: The CNS and PNS, respectively. Both act to add myelin sheaths to the axons, which acts as a form of insulation allowing for better and faster proliferation of electrical signals along the nerves. Axons in the CNS are often very short, barely a few millimeters, and do not need the same degree of isolation as peripheral nerves. Some peripheral nerves can be over 1 meter in length, such as the nerves to

2581-423: The CNS to and from the face, as well as to certain muscles (such as the trapezius muscle , which is innervated by accessory nerves as well as certain cervical spinal nerves ). Two pairs of cranial nerves; the olfactory nerves and the optic nerves are often considered structures of the CNS. This is because they do not synapse first on peripheral ganglia, but directly on CNS neurons. The olfactory epithelium

2670-403: The CNS, they connect directly to brain neurons without intermediate ganglia . The olfactory epithelium is the only central nervous tissue outside the meninges in direct contact with the environment, which opens up a pathway for therapeutic agents which cannot otherwise cross the meninges barrier. The CNS consists of two major structures: the brain and spinal cord . The brain is encased in

2759-510: The CNS. Different forms of glial cells have different functions, some acting almost as scaffolding for neuroblasts to climb during neurogenesis such as bergmann glia , while others such as microglia are a specialized form of macrophage , involved in the immune system of the brain as well as the clearance of various metabolites from the brain tissue . Astrocytes may be involved with both clearance of metabolites as well as transport of fuel and various beneficial substances to neurons from

Triffid - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-419: The CNS. While the spinal cord has certain processing ability such as that of spinal locomotion and can process reflexes , the brain is the major processing unit of the nervous system. The brainstem consists of the medulla , the pons and the midbrain . The medulla can be referred to as an extension of the spinal cord, which both have similar organization and functional properties. The tracts passing from

2937-544: The Triffids — Wells's working title had been The Day of the Tripods . The triffids are related, in some editions of the novel, to brief mention of the theories of the Soviet agronomist Trofim Lysenko , a proponent of Lamarckism who eventually was thoroughly debunked. "In the days when information was still exchanged Russia had reported some successes. Later, however, a cleavage of methods and views had caused biology there, under

3026-401: The Triffids in 2016, continuing the story of Christina Schofield, picking up where Simon Clark's The Night of the Triffids left off. However, as of 2023 , the book is unavailable for purchase and has not been dramatised in any form. In 2020, English science fiction and fantasy author John Whitbourn published a sequel, entitled The Age of the Triffids . Set in the Isle of Wight "Colony" in

3115-499: The Worlds (1898), one of Wyndham's main influences. Robert Yeates, in his essay "Gender and Ethnicity in Post-Apocalyptic Suburbia", proposes another connection to colonialism: The title The Day of the Triffids shows a colonial role reversal of this kind in which humanity is no longer the most powerful species, and Masen remarks that it is "an unnatural thought that one type of creature should dominate perpetually." At

3204-456: The apocalypse. Colin Manlove highlights this phenomenon in his essay "Everything Slipping Away: John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids ": Simultaneous with this process, people lose their identities. Part of this comes from the fact that all now exist in a shared situation, the catastrophe: no longer can one be an agronomist, a doctor, a farmer, a novelist, but only one more individual up against

3293-447: The axon. During early development of the vertebrate embryo, a longitudinal groove on the neural plate gradually deepens and the ridges on either side of the groove (the neural folds ) become elevated, and ultimately meet, transforming the groove into a closed tube called the neural tube . The formation of the neural tube is called neurulation . At this stage, the walls of the neural tube contain proliferating neural stem cells in

3382-519: The big toe. To ensure signals move at sufficient speed, myelination is needed. The way in which the Schwann cells and oligodendrocytes myelinate nerves differ. A Schwann cell usually myelinates a single axon, completely surrounding it. Sometimes, they may myelinate many axons, especially when in areas of short axons. Oligodendrocytes usually myelinate several axons. They do this by sending out thin projections of their cell membrane , which envelop and enclose

3471-415: The body, above the gut and notochord / spine . The basic pattern of the CNS is highly conserved throughout the different species of vertebrates and during evolution. The major trend that can be observed is towards a progressive telencephalisation: the telencephalon of reptiles is only an appendix to the large olfactory bulb , while in mammals it makes up most of the volume of the CNS. In the human brain,

3560-399: The body, including the eyes and head, as well as the limbs. Further, it is involved in motion that has been learned and perfected through practice, and it will adapt to new learned movements. Despite its previous classification as a motor structure, the cerebellum also displays connections to areas of the cerebral cortex involved in language and cognition . These connections have been shown by

3649-408: The body. Such functions may engage the heart , blood vessels , and pupils , among others. The brainstem also holds the reticular formation , a group of nuclei involved in both arousal and alertness . The cerebellum lies behind the pons. The cerebellum is composed of several dividing fissures and lobes. Its function includes the control of posture and the coordination of movements of parts of

Triffid - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-403: The brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all parts of the bodies of bilaterally symmetric and triploblastic animals —that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and diploblasts . It is a structure composed of nervous tissue positioned along the rostral (nose end) to caudal (tail end) axis of the body and may have an enlarged section at

3827-429: The central nervous system can cause severe illness and, when malignant , can have very high mortality rates. Symptoms depend on the size, growth rate, location and malignancy of tumors and can include alterations in motor control, hearing loss, headaches and changes in cognitive ability and autonomic functioning. Specialty professional organizations recommend that neurological imaging of the brain be done only to answer

3916-440: The cerebral hemispheres, among others: the cortex, basal ganglia, amygdala and hippocampus. The hemispheres together control a large portion of the functions of the human brain such as emotion, memory, perception and motor functions. Apart from this the cerebral hemispheres stand for the cognitive capabilities of the brain. Connecting each of the hemispheres is the corpus callosum as well as several additional commissures. One of

4005-565: The collapse of society that's depicted in the novel. I saw them now with a disgust that they had never roused in me before. Horrible alien things which some of us had somehow created, and which the rest of us, in our careless greed, had cultured all over the world, One could not even blame nature for them. In a master's thesis entitled Social Critique in the Major Novels of John Wyndham: Civilization's Secrets and Nature's Truths , Michael Douglas Green writes about other scientific contributions to

4094-432: The computer and mobile rogue-like video game Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead , Triffids are a faction composed of human-sized plant creatures that are aggressive to the player. The more dangerous version of these creatures is the "Triffid Queen", described as being cow-sized and very competent fighters with high hit points. If the player is able to defeat a "Triffid Heart", the creatures will not continue to spawn in that area of

4183-472: The details of [the] collapse been treated with such detailed plausibility and human immediacy, and never has the collapse been attributed to such an unusual and terrifying source". Forrest J. Ackerman wrote in Astounding Science Fiction that Triffids "is extraordinarily well carried out, with the exception of a somewhat anticlimactic if perhaps inevitable conclusion". Brian Aldiss coined

4272-475: The disparaging phrase cosy catastrophe to describe the subgenre of post-war apocalyptic fiction in which society is destroyed save for a handful of survivors, who are able to enjoy a relatively comfortable existence. He singled out The Day of the Triffids as an example and described Triffids as "totally devoid of ideas". However, some more recent critics have argued against this view. Margaret Atwood wrote: "one might as well call World War II—of which Wyndham

4361-534: The fictional plants. The Day of the Triffids The Day of the Triffids is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham . After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower , an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. Although Wyndham had already published other novels using other pen name combinations drawn from his real name, this

4450-520: The front, the mesencephalon , and, between the mesencephalon and the spinal cord, the rhombencephalon . (By six weeks in the human embryo) the prosencephalon then divides further into the telencephalon and diencephalon ; and the rhombencephalon divides into the metencephalon and myelencephalon . The spinal cord is derived from the posterior or 'caudal' portion of the neural tube. As a vertebrate grows, these vesicles differentiate further still. The telencephalon differentiates into, among other things,

4539-487: The information out. The spinal cord relays information up to the brain through spinal tracts through the final common pathway to the thalamus and ultimately to the cortex. Apart from the spinal cord, there are also peripheral nerves of the PNS that synapse through intermediaries or ganglia directly on the CNS. These 12 nerves exist in the head and neck region and are called cranial nerves . Cranial nerves bring information to

SECTION 50

#1732847793699

4628-462: The lead-up to the Millennium, it details the rallying of survivors from across Britain for one last attempt to defeat the triffid threat. For copyright reasons, the book is not for sale outside Canada and New Zealand. Central nervous system The central nervous system ( CNS ) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord . The CNS is so named because

4717-448: The leader as a ruthless young man he had encountered on a scavenging expedition in London, whom he had watched cold-bloodedly execute one of his own group who had fallen ill. The latter plans to give Bill a large number of blind people to care for and use on the farm as slave labour ; he will also take Susan as hostage. Feigning agreement, Bill's group throw a party, during which they encourage

4806-528: The map. Chromolaena odorata is known as a "triffid" throughout the Durban area of South Africa. It poses no threat to humans unless ingested, as it is carcinogenic . The Triffids were an alternative rock band from 1978-89, originating in Perth, Western Australia. Specialised time-lapse camera rigs used to film plant movements in the 2022 television series The Green Planet were nicknamed "Triffids" after

4895-453: The mobile game for " The Simpsons " named The Simpsons: Tapped Out , one of the options to plant in Cletus' Farm are triffids, which comically bring about the 'end of humanity'. Reference is made to the original film in "Science Fiction Double Feature", the opening song of The Rocky Horror Show . "And I really got hot when I saw Janette Scott/Fight a triffid that spits poison and kills". In

4984-554: The most important parts of the cerebral hemispheres is the cortex , made up of gray matter covering the surface of the brain. Functionally, the cerebral cortex is involved in planning and carrying out of everyday tasks. The hippocampus is involved in storage of memories, the amygdala plays a role in perception and communication of emotion, while the basal ganglia play a major role in the coordination of voluntary movement. The PNS consists of neurons, axons, and Schwann cells . Oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells have similar functions in

5073-1079: The neocortex of mice is only about 1/100 that of monkeys, and that of monkeys is only about 1/10 that of humans. In addition, rats lack convolutions in their neocortex (possibly also because rats are small mammals), whereas cats have a moderate degree of convolutions, and humans have quite extensive convolutions. Extreme convolution of the neocortex is found in dolphins , possibly related to their complex echolocation . There are many CNS diseases and conditions, including infections such as encephalitis and poliomyelitis , early-onset neurological disorders including ADHD and autism , seizure disorders such as epilepsy , headache disorders such as migraine , late-onset neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease , Parkinson's disease , and essential tremor , autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis , genetic disorders such as Krabbe's disease and Huntington's disease , as well as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and adrenoleukodystrophy . Lastly, cancers of

5162-454: The neurons and tissue of the CNS and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CNS is composed of white and gray matter . This can also be seen macroscopically on brain tissue. The white matter consists of axons and oligodendrocytes , while the gray matter consists of neurons and unmyelinated fibers. Both tissues include a number of glial cells (although the white matter contains more), which are often referred to as supporting cells of

5251-472: The novel was one of six classic science fiction novels by British authors selected by Royal Mail to feature on a series of UK postage stamps . The protagonist is Bill Masen, a biologist who has made his living working with triffids —tall, venomous, carnivorous plants capable of locomotion. Due to his background, Bill suspects they were bioengineered in the Soviet Union and accidentally released into

5340-763: The novel's apocalypse: The apocalypse in The Day of the Triffids is not merely a result of the creation of the triffids, however. It is instead, a sort of compound disaster; the triffids only gain free rein after another man-made horror—a satellite—goes awry. The narrator describes the advent of a sort of orbital missile (not utterly unlike an ICBM) developed in both the East and West carrying not only atomic weapons but also "such things as crop diseases, cattle diseases, radioactive dusts, viruses, and infections not only of familiar kinds, but brand-new sorts recently thought up in laboratories, all floating around up there." Critics have highlighted

5429-573: The novel, Gabriel Deeds, speculates that the vibrations made by the triffids' sticks serve as a form of echolocation . Triffids, based on the 1981 TV design, and a triffid gun, make an appearance in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier , a 2007 graphic novel written by Alan Moore and drawn by Kevin O'Neill . In the online videogame Kingdom of Loathing , triffids are monsters located within an area known as "the Spooky Forest". In

SECTION 60

#1732847793699

5518-559: The novel. In the 1981 TV series , the triffids were the creation of real-life Soviet biologist Trofim Lysenko . The seeds were spread across the globe when a plane smuggling them out of Russia was shot down during the Cold War. In the 2009 two-part TV series , the triffids are a naturally occurring species from Zaire , discovered by the West and selectively bred as an alternative to fossil fuels, to avert global warming . Triffid refers to

5607-427: The occupants. The triffids portrayed on screen and in sequels often differ in appearance from Wyndham's original concept. In Steve Sekely 's 1962 film adaptation , the triffids (now given the binomial name Triffidus celestus ) were designed with flaying tentacles below their stems, which they use as slashing weapons and to drag their dead prey. Also, their stinger is shown as a gas-propelled projectile, rather than

5696-423: The only vertebrates to possess the evolutionarily recent, outermost part of the cerebral cortex (main part of the telencephalon excluding olfactory bulb) known as the neocortex . This part of the brain is, in mammals, involved in higher thinking and further processing of all senses in the sensory cortices (processing for smell was previously only done by its bulb while those for non-smell senses were only done by

5785-419: The opening hospital sequence of The Day of the Triffids inspired Alex Garland to write the screenplay for 28 Days Later (2002). The 2012 short story "How to Make a Triffid" by Kelly Lagor includes discussions of the possible genetic pathways that could be manipulated to engineer the triffids. The Day of the Triffids touches on mankind's advances in science and technology as a possible contributor to

5874-450: The original triffids of the novel. Instead of a cup they have a pink flower-like head, resembling a cross between a lily and a sweet pea , that enlarges before releasing the sting. In The Night of the Triffids , a small number of North American triffids reach 60 feet (18 m) in height. Aquatic triffids also appear but remain largely unseen, with the exceptions of their stingers: the latter described as prehensile . One character in

5963-505: The parallels between the triffids and the decolonization that took place in Europe after 1945. In an essay entitled "The Politics of Post-Apocalypse: Ideologies on Trial in John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids ", literary critic Jerry Määttä writes: It could be argued that one of the reasons why John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids reached such a vast audience is that it can be read as

6052-433: The perception of senses. All in all 31 spinal nerves project from the brain stem, some forming plexa as they branch out, such as the brachial plexa , sacral plexa etc. Each spinal nerve will carry both sensory and motor signals, but the nerves synapse at different regions of the spinal cord, either from the periphery to sensory relay neurons that relay the information to the CNS or from the CNS to motor neurons, which relay

6141-399: The phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms), have the simplest, clearly defined delineation of a nervous system into a CNS and a PNS . Their primitive brains, consisting of two fused anterior ganglia, and longitudinal nerve cords form the CNS. Like vertebrates, have a distinct CNS and PNS. The nerves projecting laterally from the CNS form their PNS. A molecular study found that more than 95% of

6230-414: The plant's three "legs". In the novel a dozen names beginning with tri- , with a long i vowel , had been bandied about before the term standardized on "triffid", with a short i . In the novel, it is stated that the first triffids appeared in equatorial regions. Though they develop faster in tropical zones, triffids soon established themselves worldwide, outside the polar and desert regions. When it

6319-432: The rostral end which is a brain. Only arthropods , cephalopods and vertebrates have a true brain, though precursor structures exist in onychophorans , gastropods and lancelets . The rest of this article exclusively discusses the vertebrate central nervous system, which is radically distinct from all other animals. In vertebrates , the brain and spinal cord are both enclosed in the meninges . The meninges provide

6408-455: The skull, and protected by the cranium. The spinal cord is continuous with the brain and lies caudally to the brain. It is protected by the vertebrae . The spinal cord reaches from the base of the skull, and continues through or starting below the foramen magnum , and terminates roughly level with the first or second lumbar vertebra , occupying the upper sections of the vertebral canal . Microscopically, there are differences between

6497-452: The sorting of information that will reach cerebral hemispheres ( neocortex ). Apart from its function of sorting information from the periphery, the thalamus also connects the cerebellum and basal ganglia with the cerebrum. In common with the aforementioned reticular system the thalamus is involved in wakefulness and consciousness, such as though the SCN . The hypothalamus engages in functions of

6586-431: The spinal cord to the brain pass through here. Regulatory functions of the medulla nuclei include control of blood pressure and breathing . Other nuclei are involved in balance , taste , hearing , and control of muscles of the face and neck . The next structure rostral to the medulla is the pons, which lies on the ventral anterior side of the brainstem. Nuclei in the pons include pontine nuclei which work with

6675-622: The survivors have left him, he returns to the Senate House to seek Josella but his only lead is an address left behind by Beadley's group. Joined by a repentant Coker, Bill drives to the address, a country estate called Tynsham in Wiltshire . He finds part of the Beadley group, now led by Durrant, who eventually tells him that Beadley went to Dorset a few days before he arrived; there has been no sign of Josella. Bill and Coker decide to follow Beadley, finding small groups of blind and sighted people along

6764-413: The telencephalon covers most of the diencephalon and the entire mesencephalon . Indeed, the allometric study of brain size among different species shows a striking continuity from rats to whales, and allows us to complete the knowledge about the evolution of the CNS obtained through cranial endocasts . Mammals – which appear in the fossil record after the first fishes, amphibians, and reptiles – are

6853-583: The time of the novel's writing there was an emerging welfare state in Great Britain after the formation of the Attlee ministry . Coker's forced shackling of sighted people to the blind echoes the sentiments that some middle-class British citizens felt in the wake of the changes introduced by the Labour party after their 1945 election victory. The novel frequently brings into question the utility of individualism during

6942-658: The triffid's locomotion thus: When it "walked" it moved rather like a man on crutches. Two of the blunt "legs" slid forward, then the whole thing lurched as the rear one drew almost level with them, then the two in front slid forward again. At each "step" the long stem whipped violently back and forth; it gave one a kind of seasick feeling to watch it. As a method of progress it looked both strenuous and clumsy—faintly reminiscent of young elephants at play. One felt that if it were to go on lurching for long in that fashion it would be bound to strip all its leaves if it did not actually break its stem. Nevertheless, ungainly though it looked, it

7031-508: The triffids, one only real distinction being if one is sighted. Simon Clark wrote a sequel The Night of the Triffids (2001). This is set 25 years after Wyndham's book, and focuses on the adventures of Bill Masen's son David, who travels to New York, USA. Big Finish Productions adapted it as an audio play in 2014. The dramatisation featuring Sam Troughton was later broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in June 2016. Simon Gould published The Land of

7120-452: The unusual display has rendered any who watched it blind (later in the book, Bill speculates that the "meteor shower" may have been orbiting satellite weapons, triggered accidentally). After unbandaging his eyes he finds the hospital in chaos, with staff and patients without sight. He wanders through a chaotic London full of blind inhabitants and meets wealthy novelist Josella Playton, whom he rescues after discovering her being forcibly used as

7209-453: The use of medical imaging techniques, such as functional MRI and Positron emission tomography . The body of the cerebellum holds more neurons than any other structure of the brain, including that of the larger cerebrum , but is also more extensively understood than other structures of the brain, as it includes fewer types of different neurons. It handles and processes sensory stimuli, motor information, as well as balance information from

7298-466: The visitors to get drunk. Creeping out of the house whilst the visitors are fast asleep, they disable the armoured car by pouring honey into the fuel tank and drive through the gates, leaving them open for the triffids to pour in. The novel ends with Bill's group on the Isle of Wight, determined one day to destroy the triffids and reclaim their world. In the United States, Doubleday & Company holds

7387-421: The visual and auditory systems are located in the midbrain, including control of automatic eye movements. The brainstem at large provides entry and exit to the brain for a number of pathways for motor and autonomic control of the face and neck through cranial nerves, Autonomic control of the organs is mediated by the tenth cranial nerve . A large portion of the brainstem is involved in such autonomic control of

7476-478: The way. Eventually they decide to separate, Coker returning to help at Tynsham, while Bill heads for the Sussex Downs after remembering a remark Josella made about friends she had there. En route, Bill rescues a young sighted girl named Susan, whom he finds trapped alone at home, while her young brother lies dead in the garden, killed by a triffid. He buries the boy and takes Susan with him. A few days later, during

7565-406: The wild. Because of the excellent industrial quality of an oil produced by and obtained from the triffids, there is heavy triffid cultivation around the world. The narrative begins with Bill in hospital, his eyes bandaged after having been splashed with triffid poison from a stinger. During his recovery he is told of an unexpected green meteor shower . The next morning, he learns that the light from

7654-475: Was a veteran—a 'cozy' war because not everyone died in it". John Clute commented that the book was regularly chosen for school syllabuses, as it was "safe". Robert M. Philmus called it derivative of better books by H. G. Wells . Groff Conklin , reviewing the novel's first publication, characterised it as "a good run-of-the-mill affair" and "pleasant reading... provided you aren't out hunting science fiction masterpieces". According to director Danny Boyle ,

7743-452: Was contriving to cover the ground at something like an average walking pace. Above the base are upturned leafless sticks which the triffid drums against its stem. The exact purpose of this is not explained; it is originally assumed that they are part of the reproductive system, but Bill Masen's colleague Walter Lucknor believes they are used for communication. Removal of the sticks causes the triffid to physically deteriorate. The upper part of

7832-599: Was discovered that triffids are venomous, they were almost exterminated, until they were identified as the source of valuable oil. Farms were then built to cultivate them. Upon the discovery that docking their stingers renders them harmless, docked triffids became fashionable in public and private gardens. These triffids are safe provided they are pruned annually, as they take two years to fully regrow their stingers. Farmed triffids are not docked because undocked triffids produce higher quality oil. The plant can be divided into three components: base, trunk, and head (which contains

7921-538: Was the first novel published as "John Wyndham". The story has been made into the 1962 feature film of the same name , three radio drama series (in 1957, 1968 and 2001) and two TV series (in 1981 and 2009 ). It was nominated for the International Fantasy Award in 1952, and in 2003 the novel was listed on the BBC 's survey The Big Read . It was the inspiration for the zombie movie 28 Days Later . In 2021,

#698301