Marvels of Pond-life

Social habits-Solitary Stentors living in Gelatinous caves-Propagation by divers modes-

y any of the Ciliated Protozoa. The Stentors were abundant on the same weed (Anacharis), that formed the residence of the Stephanoceri, and might be seen in large numbers hanging from it like green trumpets, visible to the unassisted eye. In the 'Micrographic Dictionary' they are said to belong to the Vorticella family, which has already given us several beautiful objects, and possess a marvellous power of changing their shape. It is, however, better to follow Stein, who separates them from the Vorticellids and ranges them in his order Heterotricha, as they have two distinct sets of cilia, small ones coverin

e Front

n of the elegant wreath was active and rapid, causing quite a stir among all the little particles, alive and dead; and when the right sort of food came near the corkscrew entrance to the mouth, down it went, and if conspicuous for colour, was subsequently seen apparently embedded in little cavities, which Ehrenberg supposed were separate stomachs, although that theory is now rejected. One advantage of viewing these objects in a su

rent degrees of expansion. A large speci

ettled upon the stems, visibly changing their tint, as the Stentor green was much bluer than that of the plant. Scores swam about in all sorts of forms. Now they looked like cylindrical vessels with expanding brims

y take to private lodgings when they feel a little bit poorly, but others dispute this opinion, and I do not think it is correct. I have found these Stentors at all seasons, from January to the autumn, but they are never so numerous, nor aggregated in numbers like the roving sor

olymorphus is sometimes found with a tube, and

r to infusoria, and which Dujardin politely describes as "diffluence." This mode of making an exit from the stage of life is more tragical than the ripping up

lcule increases by self-division, a portion of the nucleus goes with each part, and it is probably the organ which stimulates the change. It is also concerned in other modes of propagation. "The anus is situated on the back close beneath the

ngles to their length, they will seem to form a delicate frill, in which a quivering motion is perceived. But if the table is shaken by a sharp blow, the frill is thrown into waves, or takes t

proprietor, who, I suppose, was satisfied with the intelligence, and gradually extended herself, until she stood out two thirds in length beyond the tube, and set two lobes of one nearly continuous ciliary organ in rapid motion. Sometimes the creature, Cephalosiphon limnias, bent its neck, if I may so speak, to the right, and sometimes to the left, and sometimes stood upright, when the true form of the ci

siphon

and was therefore very small. Just below the ciliary lobes the gizzard was seen, with its toothed hammers working one against the other. The masticatory organ differs from the typical form, as represented in the Brachion; and Mr. Gosse observes of Limnias that "each uncus forms, with its ramus, a well-defined mass of muscle enclosing the solid

s, etc., have been explain

n and their tubes, except that of simple adhesion, whi

family inhabit vases which have no foot or stalk, or live in gelatinous sheaths less accurately fashioned. Sometimes these creatures are obliging enough to conform to the specific descriptions which eminent naturalists ha

(A, elongated

beautiful crown of vibrating cilia, and opened a sort of trap-door to their internal arrangements. In this position they had a long cylindrical form, gracefully curved, but of nearly equal width from the mouth to the base, and they readily imbibed particles of carmine,

aped cell. These creatures, however, did not taper towards the base as Vaginicol? generally do, and perhaps they became aware of this defect in their figures, for after a day or two a change appe

ticulars are fully known, the number of species will be greatly reduced, and the study of these organisms considerably simplified. I have called the animals just described Vaginicol?, but the reader must be

ter in refracting power, as to be discerned with some difficulty. No trace could be seen of divisions into separate cells, but they all appeared to live happily to

By removing a leaf which prevented the stalk being traced to its termination, it was found to be a Vorticella, and after two hours the globe was partially