Marvels of Pond-life

-Gizzard-Hairy lobes of Floscule not rotatory organs-Glass troughs-Their construction and use-Movement of globules in lobes of Floscule-Ch?tonotus larus-Its mode of swi

s and uncoloured portrait, one would imagine that it exhibited no graces of either colour or form. Mr. Gosse has, however, done it justice, and the draw

uded, with three eggs. C.-Appearance of young. D.-Floscule seve

before the refinements of illumination were understood. Be this as it may, any reader will be fortunate if on an April, or any other morning, he or she effects the capture of one of these exquisite obj

they are gregarious in their habits. With many, however, the first finding of a Floscule will be an accident, as was the case last April, when a small piece of myriophyllum was placed in the live-box, and looked over to see what it might contain. The first glimpse revealed an egg-shaped object, of a brownish tint, stretching itself upon a stalk, and showing some symptoms of hairs or cilia at its head. This

areful focusing, and many experiments as to the best angle at which the mirror should be turned to direct the light. When all was accomplished, it was seen that the Floscule had her abode in a clear transparent cylinder, like a thin confectioner's jar, which she did not touch except at the bottom, to which her foot was attached. Lyi

graceful shower, and when the process was complete, they remained perfectly motionless, in six hollow fan-shaped tufts, one being attached to each lobe. Some internal ciliary action, quite distinct from the hairs, and which has never been precisely understood, caused gentle currents to flow towards the mouth in t

r in the foraging process, and as they do not either provide victuals or minister to locomotion, they are clearly not, as was supposed by early observers, representatives of the "wheels," which the ordinary Rotifers present. Neither can the cylindrical jar or bottle be justly deemed to occupy the position of

as seen during a whole evening, although a less power was sufficient to show the ciliary whirlpools made by small specimens of Epistylis and Vaginicola, which were in the small vessel. The density of the integument was unfavorable to viewing the action of the gizzard, but it could be indistinctly perceived. The contractions and subsequent expansions of the cup, formed by the upper part of the

nus, observes "that the whole of the upper part of the body is lined with a sensitive, contractile, partially opaque membrane, which a little below the disk recedes from the walls of the body, and forms a diaphr

d with a long slender proboscis, standing in a wavy line outside one lobe. Mr. Dobie also describes an F. campanulata, with five flattened lobes. The 'Micrographic Dictionary' pronounces these two species "doubtfully distinct." I have three or four times met with a va

ree, except at the vertical edge, by which it is attached to the side of the chamber, and being ample and of great delicacy, it continually floats and waves from side to side

t again to spread her elegant plumes before our eyes, by giving the table a smart knock, and her colours an

oking very much like a clumsy little grub. After a few awkward wriggles the new-born baby became more quiet, and on looking at it again at the expiration of seventeen hours, it had developed into the shape of a miniature plum-pudding, with five or si

eedings agreeably watched by a one-inch or two-thirds power. These troughs,[11] which can be obtained of the optician, should be of plate glass, about three inches long, nearly the same height, and about half an inch wide. If narrower, or much taller, they will not stand, which is a great inconvenience. The pieces of glass are stuck together with marine glue, and a very simple contrivance enables the plants or other objects to be pressed near the front, and thus brought into better view. A strip of glass, rather narrower than the width of the trough, is dropped into it, and allowed to fall to the botto

are still more convenient when no pressure is required, and the objects are small. Wh

of solution of caustic potash. It also becomes more visible as the supply of food falls short. Mr. Gosse describes the body as "lined with a yellowish vascular membrane," and young specimens exhibit two red eyes, which may or may

ave to exercise a good deal of patience before he is certain whether they are five or six. For a long evening only five could be discerned in the specimen now described, but the next night six were apparent wi

s larus (

sting his head about on all sides, and looking much more intelligent than most of his compeers of the pond. Looked at vertically, he was somewhat slipper-shaped, the rounded heel forming his head, then narrowing to a waist, and expanding towards the other end, which projected in a fork. All round him were long cilia, which were cons

s larus (

treated it as a Rotifer, and Dujardin placed it among the Infusoria, in a particular class, comprehending symmetrical organisms. The 'Microscopic Dictionary' remarks that its "structure requires further investigation,"[12] and while the learned decide all the intricate questions of its zoological rank, the ordinary observer will be pleased to watch its singular aspect and lively motions. Its size, according to the 'Micrographic

'Intellectual Observer,' vol. v, p. 387, in which the known species are described

e of each stave projected a little above the general level, and transverse markings are also apparent, which may be compared to hoops. This is the Coleps hirtus, which differs from the usual type of Infusoria, by being symmetrical, that is, divisible into two equal and similar halves. The dimensions of this species vary from 1-570 to 1-430, and its colour varies from white to brown. It has been observed to in

ps h

ers, it was observed to swarm with extremely minute vibriones, the largest only appearing under that immense magnification like chains of bluish-green globules, not bigger than the heads of minikin pins, while the sm

of the yeast plant is an act correlative to alcoholic fermentation, and in like ma

); B, side view of d

y of stomachs; but the vegetable theory is the more probable, at any rate of

, and give a variety to their means of locomotion. The Euplotes is furnished with an oval carapace covering the upper surface, which in different individuals, and probably at different ages, exhibits slightly varied markings round its margin, which in the specimen drawn above consisted of dots. They can run, climb, or sw

a single animalcule lived nine days; during the first twenty-four hours it was developed by transverse self-division into three animals; these in twenty-four hours formed two each in the same manner, so that by self-division only (without ova), these animalcules increased three or four-fold in twenty-four hours, and may thus produce a million from a single a