r 
 
 QII)p i. B. iitU ffitbrarg 
 
 Nortli (Earnltna *tat0 Imnpraitg 
 
 Z. SMITH REYNOLDS 
 FOUNDATION 
 
 COLLECTION IN 
 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
 
 QH277 
 
 S52 
 
 1871 
 
 NX. STATE UNIVERSITY D.H HILL LIBRARY 
 
 S00203966 Q 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE D ATO 
 
 Sed at the circulation 
 
 DESK. 
 
 100M/7-87-871203 
 

 
D. H. BRFCGS. 
 
 ■B 
 
 Neilher a borrowei', nor a lend- 
 er be — 
 
 For loan oft loses both Itself and 
 friend. 
 
 SUA KESPEABE. 
 
MARVELS OF POND-LIFE 
 
 OB, 
 
 A YEAR'S MICROSCOPIC RECREATIONS 
 
 AMONG- THE 
 
 POLYPS, INFUSORIA, ROTIFERS, WATER-BEARS, 
 
 AND POLYZOA. 
 
 HENRY J. SLACK, F.a.S., 
 
 SECRETARY TO THE ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY ; 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 'THE PHILOSOPHY OF PROGRESS IN HUMAN AFFAIRS,* ETC. ETC- 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 ILLUSTEATEB WITH COLOIJEEB PLATES ANI> NTJMEROTJS 
 WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 L OND ON: 
 
 GROOMBRIDOE AND SONS, 
 
 5, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 MDCCCLXXI. 
 
PEINTED BY J. E. ADLAED, 
 BAKTHOLOMEW CLOSE. 
 
INTEODUCTION 
 
 As this little book is intended to be no more than an 
 introduction to an agreeable branch of microscopical study, 
 it is to be hoped it will not require a formal preface ; but 
 a few words may be convenient to indicate its scope and 
 purpose. • 
 
 The common experience of all microscopists confirms the 
 assertion made by Dr. G-oring, that the most fascinating 
 objects are living creatures of sufficient dimensions to be 
 easily understood with moderate magnification ; and in no 
 way can objects of this description be so readily obtained, 
 as by devoting an occasional hour to the examination of the 
 little ponds which are accessible from almost any situation. 
 A complete volume of pond lore would not only be a bulky 
 book — much bigger than the aldermanic tomes which it is 
 the fashion to call " Manuals," although the great stone 
 fists in the British Museum would be required to grasp 
 them comfortably, — but its composition would overtask aU 
 the philosophers of our day. In good truth, a tea-spoonful 
 of water from a prolific locality often contains a variety of 
 living forms, every one of which demands a profound 
 and patient study, if we would know but a few things 
 concerning it. 
 
 To man, then, is a vast and a minute. Our minds ache 
 at the contemplation of astronomical immensities, and we 
 are apt to see the boundless only in prodigious masses, 
 
iv Introduction. 
 
 countless numbers, and immeasurable spaces. The Creative 
 Mind knows no such limitations ; and the microscope 
 shows us that, whether the field of nature's operation be 
 ■what to our apprehension is great or small, there is no 
 limit to the exhibition of marvellous skill. If the " un- 
 devout astronomer " be " mad," the undevout microscopist 
 must be still more so, for if the matter be judged by human 
 sense, the skill is greater as the operation is more minute ; 
 and not the sun itself, nor the central orb round which he 
 revolves, with all his attendant worlds, can furnish sublimer 
 objects of contemplation, than the miraculous assemblage of 
 forces which make up the life of the smallest creature that 
 the microscope reveals. 
 
 There is an irresistible charm in the effort to trace 
 heginnings in nature. We know that we can never 
 succeed ; that each discovery, which conducts back towards 
 some elementary law or principle, only indicates how much 
 still lies behind it : but the geologist nevertheless loves to 
 search out the first or oldest traces of life upon our globe ; 
 and so the microscopist delights to view the simplest 
 exhibitions of structures and faculties, which reach their 
 completion in the frame and mind of man. That one great 
 plan runs through the whole universe is now an universally 
 accepted truth, and when applied to physiology and natural 
 history, it leads to most important results. 
 
 The researches of recent philosophers have shown us 
 that nature cannot be understood by studying the parts of 
 animals with reference merely to their utility in the 
 economy of the creature to which they belong. We do, 
 indeed, find an admirable correspondence between struc- 
 tures and the services they perform ; but every object in 
 creation, and every part of it, is in harmonious relation to 
 some grand design, and exhibits a conformity to some 
 general mode of operation, or some general disposition and 
 direction of forces, which secures the existence of the 
 
Introduction. v 
 
 individual or the species, and at the same time works out 
 the most majestic schemes. Microscopic researches, such 
 as are within the reach of millions, offer many of the most 
 beautiful illustrations of these truths ; and although the 
 following pages are confined to such objects as are easily 
 obtainable from ponds, and relate almost exclusively to the 
 Infusoria, the Kotifers, the Polyps, and the Polyzoa, it is 
 hoped that they will assist in associating a few of the highly 
 suggestive reasonings of science, with one of the most 
 pleasurable recreations that human ingenuity has devised. 
 
 After a preliminary chapter, which is intended to assist 
 the young microscopist in some technical matters, that 
 could not be conveniently introduced into the text, the 
 observations are distributed in chapters, corresponding with 
 the twelve calendar months. This arrangement was sug- 
 gested by the author's diary of operations for the year 
 1860, and although it by no means follows that the months 
 in which particular creatures were then discovered, will be 
 those in which they will be most readily found in other 
 years, it was thought advantageous to give a real account 
 of an actual period of microscopic work, and also that the 
 plan would facilitate a departure from the dry manner of a 
 technical treatise. The index will enable any one to use 
 the book for the purpose of reference, and it will be 
 observed that the first chapter in which any member of a 
 group of creatures is introduced, is that in which a general 
 description of the class is given. The illustrations are 
 taken from drawings made by the wife of the author from 
 the actual objects, with the exception of a few instances, in 
 which the authority is acknowledged. The sketches were 
 made especially for heginnerSy and the rule followed, was 
 not to introduce any details that could not be seen at 
 one focus, and with the simplest means : more elaborate 
 representations, though of the highest value to advanced 
 students, are bewildering at the commencement. 
 
 & 
 
vi Introduction. 
 
 The ponds referred to are all either close to, or within a 
 moderate distance of, London ;* but similar objects will in 
 all probability be obtained from any ponds similarly 
 situated, and the descriptions and directions given for the 
 capture of the minute prey will be found generally applic- 
 able. Care has been taken throughout to explain the most 
 convenient methods of examining the objects, and although 
 verbal descriptions are poor substitutes for the teachings of 
 experience, it is hoped that those here given will remove 
 some difficulties from a pursuit that no intelligent person 
 can enter upon without pleasure, or consent to abandon 
 when its elementary difficulties have been mastered, and 
 the boundless fields of discovery are opened to view. Let 
 not the novice be startled at the word " discovery." It is 
 true that few are likely to arrive at new principles or facts 
 which will inscribe their names upon the roll of fame ; but 
 no one of ordinary powers can look at living objects with 
 any considerable perseverance, without seeing much that 
 has never been recorded, and which is nevertheless worthy 
 of note; and when the mind, by its own exertions, first 
 arrives at a knowledge of new truth, an emotion is felt 
 akin to that which more than recompenses the profoundest 
 philosopher for all his toil. 
 
 * Many are now (1871) destroyed by the progress of building. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MICROSCOPES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 
 
 . PAGE 
 
 Powers that are most serviceable — Estimated by Focal 
 length — Length of Body of Microscope and its Effects — 
 Popular Errors about Great Magnification — Modes of 
 Stating Magnifying Power — use of an "Erector" — Power 
 of various Objectives with different Eye-pieces — Exami- 
 nation of Surface Markings — Methods of Illumination 
 
 ^ — Direct and Oblique Light — Stage Aperture — Dark- 
 ground Illumination — Mode of Softening Light — Micro- 
 scope Lamps — Care of ihe IJyes .. . . . .1 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 JANITART. 
 
 Yisit to th.e Ponds — Confervae — Spirogyra quinina — Yorti- 
 cella — Common Rotifer — Three Divisions of Infusoria — 
 Phytozoa — Protozoa — Rotifera — Tardigrada — Meaning 
 of these Terms — Euglense — Distinction between Animals 
 and Yegetables — Description of YorticeUse — Dark- 
 ground Illumination — Modes of producing it— The 
 
viii Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Nucleus of tlie Yorticella — Methods of Reproduction — 
 Ciliated Protozoa — Wheel-bearers or Rotifers — Their 
 Structure — Tlie Common Rotifer — The young Rotifer 
 seen inside the old one — an Internal Nursery — " Differ- 
 entiation " and " Specialization " — BisexuaHty of Roti- 
 fers — Their Zoological Position — Diversities in their 
 Appearance — Structure of their Gizzard — Description of 
 Rotifers 10 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FEBRUARY. 
 
 Yisitto Hampstead — Small ponds — Water-Fleas — Water- 
 Beetle — Snails — Polyps — Hydra viridis — The Dipping- 
 tube — A Glass Cell — The Hydra and its Prey — Chy- 
 dorus Sphsericus and Canthocamptus, or Friends and 
 their Escapes — Cothumia — Polyp Buds — Catching 
 Polyps — Mode of Yiewing Them — Structure of Polpys — 
 Sarcode — Polyps Stimulated by Light — Are they Con- 
 scious ? — Tentacles and Poison Threads — Paramecium 
 — Ti'achelius — Motions of Animalcules, whether Autom- 
 atic or directed by a Will — Their Restless Character . 30 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 MARCH. 
 
 Paramecia — Effects of Sunlight — Pterodina patina — Curi- 
 ous Tail — Use of a Compressorium — Internal Structure 
 of Pterodina — Metopidia — Trichodina pediculus — Co- 
 thumia — Sal^Dina — Its Three-sided Box — Protrusion of 
 its Gizzard Mouth 43 
 
Contents. ix 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 APRIL. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Beautiful Floscule — Mode of Seeking for Tubicolar 
 E/otif ers — Mode of Illuminating the Floscule — Difficulty 
 of seeing tlie Transparent Tube — Protrusion of Long 
 Hairs — Lobes — Gizzard — Hairy Lobes of Floscide not 
 Rotatory Organs — Glass Troughs — Their Construction 
 and Use — Movement of Globules in Lobes of Floscule — 
 Chsetonotus larus — Its mode of Swimming — Coleps 
 hirtus — Devourer of Dead Entomostraca — Dead Rotifer 
 and Yibriones — Theories of Fermentation and Putrefac- 
 tion — Euplotes and Stylonichia — Fecundity of Styloni- 
 chia 54 
 
 CHAPTER YL 
 
 MAY. 
 
 Floscularia comuta — Euchlanis triquetra — Melicei-ta rin- 
 gens — Its Powers as Brick-maker, Architect, and Mason 
 — Mode of Yiewing the Melicerta— Use of Glass Cell — 
 Habits of Melicerta — Curious Attitudes— Leave their 
 Tubes at Death— Carchesium—Epistylis— Their Ele- 
 gant Tree Forms— A Parasytic Epistylis like the " Old 
 Man of the Sea " — Halteria and its Leaps— Aspidisca 
 lynceus ^^ 
 
 CHAPTER YIL 
 
 JUNE AND JULY. 
 
 Lindia torulosa — (Ecistes crystallinus — A Professor ot 
 Deportment on Stilts— Philodina — Changes of Form 
 
Contents. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 and Habits — Structure of Gizzard in PMlodina Family 
 — Mr. Gosse's Description — Motions of Rotifers — Indi- 
 cations of a Will — Remarks on tlie Motions of Lower 
 Creatures — Various Theories — Possibility of Reason — 
 Reflex Actions — Brain of Insects — Consensual Actions 
 — Applications of Physiological Reasoning to the Move- 
 ments of Rotifers and Animalcules . . . .76 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 AUGUST. 
 
 Mud Coloured by "Worms — Their Retreat at Alarm — A 
 Country Duck-Pond — Contents of its Scum — Crypto- 
 monads — Their Means of Locomotion — A Triarthra 
 (Three-limbed Rotifer) — The Brachion or Pitcher Roti- 
 fer — Its Striking Form — Enormous Gizzard — Ciliary 
 Motion inside this Creature — Large Eye and Brain — 
 Powerful Tail — Its Functions — Eggs . . . .86 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 Microscopic Yalue of Little Pools — Curious Facts in Ap- 
 pearance and Disappearance of Animalcules and Roti- 
 fers — Mode of Preserving them in a Glass Jar — Frag- 
 ments of Melicerta Tube — Peculiar Shape of Pellets — 
 Amphileptus — Scaridium longicaudum — A Long-tailed 
 Rotifer — Stephanoceros Eichomii — A Splendid Rotifer 
 — Its Gelatinous Bottle — Its Crown of Tentacles — 
 Retreats on Alarm — Illumination Requisite to see its 
 Beauties — Its Greediness — Richly-coloured Food — Ner- 
 vous Ganglia 97 
 
Contents. xi 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OCTOBER. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Stentors and Steplianoceri — Desci-iption of Stcntors — 
 Mode of viewing tliem — Their Abundance— Social 
 Habits — Solitary Stentors living in Gelatinous Caves — 
 Propagation by Divers Modes — Cepbalosiphon lininias — 
 A Group of Yaginicolse — Changes of Shape — A Bubble- 
 blowing Yoi-ticella 107 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 NOVEMBER. 
 
 Characteristics of the Polyzoa — Details of Structure ac- 
 cording to AUman — Plumatella repens — Its Great 
 Beauty under proper Illumination — Its Tentacles and 
 their Cilia — The Mouth and its Guard or Epistome — 
 Intestinal Tube — How it swallowed a Rotifer, and what 
 happened — Curiosities of Digestion — Are the Tentacles 
 capable of Stinging ? — Resting Eggs, or " Statoblasts " 
 — Tube of Plumatella — Its Muscular Fibres — Physiolo- 
 gical Importance of theii* Structure . . . .118 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DECEMBER. 
 
 Microscopic Hunting in "Winter — Water-Bears, or Tardi- 
 grada — Their Comical Behaviour — Mode of viewing 
 them — Singular Gizzard — Wenham's Compressorium — 
 Achromatic Condenser— Mouth of the Water-Bear — 
 Water-Bears' Exposure to Heat — Soluble Albumen — 
 Physiological and Chemical Reasons why they are not 
 
xii Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 killed by Heating or Drying — The Trachelius ovum — 
 Mode of Swimming — Method of Yiewing — By Dark- 
 ground Illumination — Curious Digestive Tube witli 
 Brancbes — Multiplication by Division — Cbange of Form 
 immediately following tbis Process — subsequent Ap- 
 pearances 128 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Conclusion. — Remarks on Classification, &c. . . . 140 
 
 
MAEVELS OF POND-LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PLAIN HINTS ON MICROSCOPES AND THEIR 
 MANAGEMENT. 
 
 Powers that are most serviceable — Estimated by focal length — Length 
 of body of microscope and its eflfects — Popular errors about great 
 magnification — Modes of stating magnified power — Use of an 
 " Erector " — Power of various objectives with different eye-pieces 
 — Examination of surface markings — Methods of illumination — 
 Direct and oblique light — Stage aperture — Dark ground illumina- 
 tion — Mode of softening light — Microscope lamps — Care of the eyes. 
 
 HE microscope is rapidly becoming the com- 
 panion of every intelligent family that can 
 afford its purchase, and, thanks to the skill of 
 our opticians, instruments which can be made to answer 
 the majority of purposes may be purchased for three 
 or four guineas, while even those whose price is counted 
 in shillings are by no means to be despised. The most 
 eminent English makers, Wales, and Toiles, in America, 
 and Hartnack, in Paris, occupy the first rank, while the 
 average productions of respectable houses exhibit so 
 high a degree of excellence as to make comparisons 
 
 1 
 
2 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 invidious. We shall not, therefore, indulge in the praises 
 of particular firms, but simply recommend any reader 
 entering upon microscopic study to procure an achro- 
 matic instrument, if it can be afi'orded, and having at 
 least two powers, one with a focus of an inch or two 
 thirds of an inch, and the other of half or a quarter. 
 Cheap microscopes have usually only one eye-piece, 
 those of a better class have two, and the best are fur- 
 nished with three, or even more. 
 
 The magnifying power of a compound microscope 
 depends upon the focal length of the object-glass (or 
 glass nearest the object), upon the length of the tube, 
 and the power of the eye-piece. With regard to object- 
 glasses, those of shortest focal length have the highest 
 powers, and the longest eye-pieces have the lowest 
 powers. The body of a microscope, or principal tube 
 of which it is composed, is, in the best instruments, 
 about nine inches long, and a draw tube, capable of 
 being extended six inches more, is frequently useful. 
 From simple optical principles, the longer the tube the 
 higher the power obtained with the same object-glass; 
 but only object-glasses of very perfect construction will 
 bear the enlargement of their own imperfections, which 
 results from the use of long tubes; and consequently for 
 cheap instruments the opticians often limit the length of 
 the tube, to suit the capacity of the object-glasses they 
 can afford to give for the money. Such microscopes 
 may be good enough for the generality of purposes, but 
 they do not, with glasses of given focal length, afford 
 the same magnifying power as is done by instruments 
 of better construction. The best and most expensive 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life, 3 
 
 glasses will not only bear long tubes, but also eye-pieces 
 of high power, without any practical diminution of the 
 accuracy of their operation, and this is a great con- 
 venience in natural history investigations. To obtain 
 it, however, requires such perfection of workmanship 
 as to be incompatible with cheapness. An experienced 
 operator will not be satisfied without having an object- 
 glass at least as high as a quarter, that will bear a deep 
 eye-piece, but beginners are seldom successful with a 
 higher power than one of half-inch focus, or there- 
 abouts, and before trying this, they should familiarise 
 themselves with the use of one with an inch focus. 
 
 It is a popular error to suppose that enormous mag- 
 nification is always an advantage, and that a microscope 
 is valuable because it makes a flea look as big as a cat 
 or a camel. The writer has often smiled at the excla- 
 mations of casual visitors, who have been pleased with 
 his microscopic efforts to entertain them. ^' Dear me, 
 what a wonderful instrument ; it must be immensely 
 powerful ;" and so forth. These ejaculations have often 
 followed the use of a low power, and their authors have 
 been astonished at receiving the explanation that the 
 best microscope is that which will show the most with 
 the least magnification, and that accuracy of defi- 
 nition, not mere increase of bulk, is the great thing 
 needful. 
 
 Scientific men always compute the apparent enlarge- 
 ment of the object by one dimension only. Thus, 
 supposing an object one hundredth of an inch square 
 were magnified so as to appear one inch square, it 
 would, in scientific parlance, be magnified to " one hun- 
 
4 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 dred diameters/' or one hundred linear ; and the figures 
 100 would be appended to any drawing which might be 
 made from it. It is, however, obvious that the length 
 is magnified as well as the breadth ; and hence the 
 magnification of the whole surface, in the instance 
 specified, would be one hundred times one hundred, or 
 ten thousand : and this is the way in which magnifi- 
 cation is popularly stated. A few moments' considera- 
 tion will show that the scientific method is that which 
 most readily aff*ords information. Any one can in- 
 stantly comprehend the fact of an object being made 
 to look ten times its real length ; but if told that it is 
 magnified a hundred times, he does not know what this 
 really means, until he has gone through the process of 
 finding the square root of a hundred, and learnt that a 
 hundredfold magnification means a tenfold magnification 
 of each superficial dimension. If told, for example, 
 that a hair is magnified six hundred diameters, the 
 knowledge is at once conveyed that it looks six hundred 
 times as broad as it is ; but a statement that the 
 same hair is magnified three hundred and sixty 
 thousand times, only excites a gasping sensation 
 of wonder, until it is ascertained by calculation that 
 the big figures only mean what the little figures express. 
 In these pages the scientific plan will always be fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 If expense is not an object, a binocular instrument 
 should be purchased, and it is well to be provided with 
 an object-glass as low as three or even four inches focus, 
 which will allow the whole of objects having the diameter 
 of half an inch or more to be seen at once. Such a low 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life. 5 
 
 power is exceedingly well adapted for the examination 
 of living insects, or of the exquisite preparations of 
 entire insects, which can now be had of all opticians. 
 Microscopes which have a draw tube can be furnished 
 with an erector, an instrnment so called because it 
 erects the images, which the microscope has turned 
 upside down, through the crossing of the rays. This is 
 very convenient for making dissections under the in- 
 strument ; and it also gives us the means of reducing 
 the magnifying power of an object-glass, and thus 
 obtaining a larger field. The erector is affixed to the 
 end of the draw tube, and by pulling it out, or thrusting 
 it in, the rays from the object-glass are intercepted at 
 different distances, and various degrees of power ob- 
 tained. 
 
 A binocular microscope is most useful with low 
 powers from two thirds upwards. A new form, devised 
 by Mr. Stephenson, acts as an erector, and is very 
 valuable for dissections. It works with high powers. 
 
 Beginners will be glad to know how to obtain the 
 magnifying power which different objects require, and 
 it may be stated that, with a full-sized microscope, a 
 two-inch object-glass magnifies about twenty-five dia- 
 meters with the lowest eye-piece; a one-inch object- 
 glass, or two thirds, from fifty to sixty diameters ; a 
 half-inch about one hundred ; a quarter-inch about two 
 hundred. The use of deeper eye-pieces adds very con- 
 siderably to the power, but in proportions which diflcr 
 with different makers. One instrument used by the 
 writer has three eye-pieces, giving with a two thirds 
 object-glass powers of sixty one hundred and five, and 
 
6 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 one hundred and eighty respectively; and with 
 a fifth two hundred and forty, four hundred and 
 thirty, and seven hundred and twenty, which can be 
 augmented by the use of a draw tube. 
 
 It has been well observed that the illumination of 
 objects is quite as important as the glasses that are 
 employed, and the most experienced microscopists have 
 never done learning in this matter. Most microscopes 
 are furnished with two mirrors beneath the stage, one 
 plane and one concave. The first will throw a few 
 parallel rays through any transparent object properly 
 placed, and the latter causes a number of rays to 
 converge, producing a more powerful effect. The first 
 is usually used in daylight, when the instrument is 
 near a window (one with a north aspect, out of direct 
 sunlight, being the best) ; and the second is often 
 useful when the source of illumination is a candle or a 
 lamp. By varying the angle of the mirror the light is 
 thrown through the object more or less obliquely, and 
 its quantity should never be sufficient to pain the eye. 
 Few objects are seen to the best advantage with a 
 large pencil of perfectly direct light, and the beginner 
 should practise till the amount of inclination is obtained 
 which produces the best effect. 
 
 It is advisable that the hole in the stage of the 
 microscope should be large — at least an inch and a half 
 each way — so that the entrance of oblique rays is not 
 obstructed, and it is desirable that the mirror, in 
 addition to sliding up and down, should have an arm 
 by which it can be thrown completely out of the 
 perpendicular plane of the body of the instrument. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 7 
 
 This enables such oblique rays to be employed as to 
 give a dark field, all the light which reaches the eye 
 being refracted by the object through which it is sent. 
 The opticians sell special pieces of apparatus for this 
 purpose, but though they are very useful, they do not 
 render it less desirable to have the mirror mounted as 
 described. 
 
 Most microscopes are furnished with a revolving 
 diaphragm, with three holes, of different sizes, to 
 diminish the quantity of light that is admitted to the 
 object. This instrument is of some use, and offers a 
 ready means of obtaining a very soft agreeable light for 
 transparent objects, viewed with low powers. For this 
 purpose cut a circular disk of India or tissue paper, 
 rather larger than the biggest aperture ; scrape a few 
 little pieces of spermaceti, and place them upon it, then 
 put the whole on a piece of writing-paper, and hold it 
 a few inches above the flame of a candle, moving it 
 gently. If this is dexterously done, the spermaceti will 
 be melted without singeing the paper, and when it is 
 cold the disk will be found transparent. Place it over 
 the hole in the diaphragm, send the light through it, 
 and the result will be a very soft agreeable efiect, well 
 suited for many purposes, such as viewing sections of 
 wood, insects mounted whole, after being rendered 
 transparent, many small water creatures, etc. Another 
 mode of accomplishing this purpose is to place a 
 similarly prepared disk of paper on the flat side of a 
 buirs-eye lens, and transmit the light of a lamp through 
 it. This plan may be used with higher powers, and 
 the white opaque light it gives may be directed 
 
S Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 at any angle by means of the mirror beneath the 
 stage. 
 
 An ordinary lamp may be made to answer for micro- 
 scopic use, but one of the small paraffine lamps now 
 sold everywhere for eighteen-pence is singularly conve- 
 nient. It is high enough for many purposes, and can 
 easily be raised by one or more blocks. A paraffine 
 lamp on a sliding stand is still more handy, and all the 
 better for a hole with a glass stopper, through which 
 the fluid can be poured. 
 
 Many people fancy that the eyes are injured by 
 continual use of the microscope, but this is far from 
 being the case if reasonable precautions are taken. 
 The instrument should be inclined at a proper angle, 
 all excess of light avoided, and the object brought into 
 focus before it is steadily looked at. Most people 
 solemnly shut one eye before commencing a micro- 
 scopic examination ; this is a practical and physiological 
 mistake. Nature meant both eyes to be open, and 
 usually resents a prolonged violation of her intentions 
 in this matter. It requires but a little practice to keep 
 both eyes open, and only pay attention to what is seen 
 by that devoted to the microscope. The acquisition of 
 this habit is facilitated, and other advantages gained, 
 by a screen to keep out extraneous light. For this 
 purpose take a piece of thin cardboard about nine 
 inches square, and cut a round hole in it, just big 
 enough to admit the tube of the microscope, about two 
 inches from the bottom, and equidistant from the two 
 sides. Next cut off the two upper corners of the card- 
 board, and give them a pleasant-looking curve. Then 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 9 
 
 cover the cardboard with black velvet, the commonest, 
 which is not glossy, answers best, and your screen is 
 made. Put the hole over the tube of the microscope, 
 and let the screen rest on the little ledge or rim which 
 forms an ornamental finish to most instruments. A 
 piece of cork may be gummed at the back of the screen, 
 so as to tilt it a little, and diminish its chance of 
 coming into contact with that important organ the 
 nose. This little contrivance adds to the clearness and 
 brilliancy of objects, and is a great accommodation to 
 the eyes. 
 
 One more oculistic memorandum, and we have done 
 with this chapter. Do not stare at portions of objects 
 that are out of focus, and consequently indistinct, as 
 this injures the eyes more than anything. Remember 
 the proverb, '• None so deaf as those that won't hear," 
 which naturally suggests for a companion, " None so 
 blind as those that won^t see." It is often impossible 
 to get every object in the field in focus at one time ; — 
 look only at that which is in focus, and be blind to all 
 the rest. This is a habit easily acquired, and is one 
 for which our natural microscopes are exceedingly 
 grateful; and every judicious observer desires to keep 
 on the best terms with his eyes. 
 
10 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 JANUARY. 
 
 Visit to the ponds — Confervse — Spirogyra quinina — Vorticella — Com- 
 mon Rotifer — Three divisions of Infusoria — Phytozoa — Protozoa 
 — Rotifera — Tardigrada — Meaning of these terms — Euglense — 
 Distinction between animals and vegetables — Description of 
 Vorticellse — Dark ground illumination— Modes of producing it — 
 The Nucleus of the Vorticellse — Methods of reproduction — Ciliated 
 Protozoa — Wheel bearers or Rotifers — Their structure — The com- 
 mon Rotifer — The young Rotifer seen inside the old one — An 
 internal nursery — " Differentiation " and " Specialisation " — 
 Bisexuality of Rotifers — Their zoological position — Diversities in 
 their appearance — Structure of their Gizzard — Description of 
 Rotifers. 
 
 HE winter months are on the whole less 
 favorable to the collection of microscopic 
 objects from ponds and streams than the 
 warmer portions of the year; but the difference is 
 rather in abundance than in variety,, and with a very 
 moderate amount of trouble, representatives of the 
 principal classes can always be obtained. 
 
 On a clear January morning, when the air was keen, 
 but no ice had yet skinned over the surface of the 
 water, a visit to some small ponds in an open field not 
 far from Kentish Town provided entertainment for 
 several days. The ponds were selected from their open 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 1 1 
 
 airy situation^ the general clearness of tlieir water, and 
 the abundance of vegetation with which they were 
 adorned. Near the margin confervse abounded, their 
 tangled masses of hair-like filaments often matted 
 together, almost with the closeness of a felted texture. 
 At intervals, minute bubbles of air, with occasionally a 
 few of greater size, indicated that the complex processes 
 of vegetable life were actively going on, that the tiny 
 plants were decomposing carbonic acid, dexterously 
 combininsr the carbon — which we are most familiar 
 with in the black opaque form of charcoal — to form 
 the substance of their delicate translucent tissues, and 
 sending forth the oxygen as their contribution to the 
 purification of the adjacent water, and the renovation 
 of our atmospheric air. This was a good sign, for 
 healthy vegetation is favorable to many of the most 
 interesting forms of infusorial life. Accordingly the 
 end of a walking-stick was inserted among the green 
 threads, and a skein of them drawn up, dank, dripping, 
 and clinging together in a pasty-looking mass. To 
 hold up a morsel of this mass, and tell some one not in 
 the secrets of pond-lore that its dripping threads were 
 objects of beauty, surpassing human productions, in 
 brilliant colour and elegant form, would provoke 
 laughter, and suggest the notion that you were poking 
 fun at them, when you poked out your stick with the 
 slimy treasure at its end. But let us put the green 
 stuff into a bottle, with some water from its native 
 haunt, cork it up tight, and carry it away for quiet 
 examination under the microscope at home. 
 
 Here we are with the apparatus ready. AVe have 
 
12 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 transferred a few threads of the conferva from the 
 bottle to the live box, spreading out the fine fibres with 
 a needle^ and adding a drop of water. The cover is 
 then gently pressed down^ and- the whole placed on the 
 stage of the microscope^ to be examined with a power 
 of about sixty. A light is thrown somewhat obliquely 
 by the mirror through the object, the focus adjusted, 
 and a beautiful sight rewards the pains. Our mass of 
 conferva turns out to contain one of the most elegant 
 species. Fine hair-like tubes of an organic material, 
 as transparent as glass, are divided by partitions of the 
 same substance into cylindrical cells, through which a 
 slender ribbon of emerald green, spangled at intervals 
 with small round expansions, is spirally wound. We 
 shall call it the Spiral Conferva, its scientific name 
 being Spirogyra quinina. Some other species, though 
 less elegantly adorned, make a pleasing variety in the 
 microscopic scene ; and appended to some of the 
 threads is a group of small crystal bells, which jerk up 
 and down upon spirally twisted stalks. These are the 
 " Bell Flower Animalcules ^' of old observers, the 
 Vorticellce, or Little Vortex-makers of the present day. 
 Other small creatures flit about with lively motions, 
 and among them we observe a number of green spindles 
 that continually change their shape, while an odd- 
 looking thing crawls about, after the manner of certain 
 caterpillars, by bringing his head and tail together, 
 shoving himself on a step, and then repeating the 
 process, and making another move. He has a kind of 
 snout, behind which are two little red eyes, and some- 
 thing like a pig-tail sticks out behind. This is the 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 13 
 
 Common Wheel-bearer, Rotifer vulgaris, a favourite 
 object with microscopists, old and young, and capable, 
 as we shall see, of doing something more interesting 
 than taking the crawl we have described. 
 
 A higher power, say one or two hundred, may be 
 conveniently applied to bring out the details of the 
 inhabitants of our live box more completely ; but if the 
 glasses are good, a linear magnification of sixty will 
 show a great deal, with the advantage of a large field, 
 and less trouble in following the moving objects of our 
 search. 
 
 Having commenced our microscopic proceedings by 
 obtaining some Euglense, Vorticellse, and a Rotifer, we 
 are in a position to consider the chief characteristics of 
 three great divisions of infusoria, which will often 
 engage our attention. 
 
 It is well known that animalcules and other small 
 forms of being may be found in infusions of hay or 
 other vegetable matter, and hence all such and similar 
 objects were called Infusoria by early observers. Many 
 groups have been separated from the general mass 
 comprehended under this term, and it is now used in 
 various senses. The authors of the ' Micrographic 
 Dictionary ^ employ it to designate '^ a class of micro- 
 scopic animals not furnished with either vessels or 
 nerves, but exhibiting internal spherical cavities, mo- 
 tion effected by means of cilia, or variable processes 
 formed of the substance of the body, true legs being 
 absent.^^ The objection to this definition is, that it 
 to some extent represents theories which may not be 
 true. That nerves are absent all through the class is an 
 
14 Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 assumption founded merely upon the negative evidence 
 of their not having been discovered, and the complete 
 absence of " vessels '' cannot be affirmed. 
 
 In the last edition of ^Pritchard's Infusoria/ to which 
 some of our ablest naturalists have contributed, after 
 separating two groups,, the Desmids, and the Diatoms, 
 as belonging to the vegetable world, the remainder of 
 the original family of infusoria are classified as Phytozoa, 
 Protozoa, Rotifer a, and Tardigrada. We shall explain 
 these hard names immediately, first remarking that the 
 Desmids and the Diatoms, concerning whom we do not 
 intend to speak in these pages, are the names of two 
 groups, one distinctly vegetable, while the other, 
 although now generally considered so, were formerly 
 held by many authorities to be in reality animal. The 
 Desmids occur very commonly in fresh water. We have 
 some among our Confervse. They are most brilliant 
 green, and often take forms of a more angular and 
 crystalline character than are exhibited by higher 
 plants. The Diatoms are still more common, and we 
 see before us in our water-drop some of their simplest 
 representatives in the form of minute boats made of 
 silica (flint) and moved by means still in dispute. 
 
 Leaving out the Desmids and Diatoms, we have said 
 that in Pritchard^s arrangement the views of those 
 writers are adopted who divide the rest of the infusoria 
 into four groups, distinguished with foreign long-tailed 
 names, which we will translate and expound. First 
 come the Phytozoa, under which we recognise our old 
 acquaintance zoophyte turned upside down. Zoophytes 
 mean animal-plants, Phytozoa mean plant-animals. We 
 
Marvels of Ps)nd'Life. 15 
 
 shall have by-and-bye to speak of some of the members 
 of this artificial and unsatisfactory group, and postpone 
 to that time a learned disquisition on the difference 
 between animals and plants, a difference observable 
 enough if we compare a hippopotamus with a cabbage, 
 but which " grows small by degrees, and beautifully 
 less,^^ as we contemplate lower forms. 
 
 After the Phytozoa come the Protozoa, or first forms 
 in which animality is distinctly recognised. Under this 
 term are assembled creatures of very various organiza- 
 tion, from the extreme simplicity of the Proteus or 
 Amoeba, a little lump of jelly, that moves by thrusting 
 out portions of its body, so as to make a sort of ex- 
 tempore legs, and in which no organs can be discerned,"^ 
 up to others that are highly developed, like our Vorti- 
 cellce. This group is evidently provisional, and jumbles 
 together objects that may be widely separated when 
 their true structure and real affinities are discerned. 
 
 Following the Protozoa, come the Rotifera, or AVheel- 
 bearers, of which we have obtained an example from 
 our pond, and whose characteristics we shall endeavour 
 to delineate when our specimen is under view ; and last 
 in the list we have the Tardigrada, " Slow -steppers," or 
 Water Bears, queer little creatures, something like new- 
 born puppies, with a double allowance of imperfect feet. 
 These, though somewhat connected with the rotifers, 
 are considered to belong to a low division of the arach- 
 nida (spiders, &c.). 
 
 Feeling that we must be merciful with the long- tailed 
 
 * In some kinds and in some stages of growth this is not strictly 
 true. . 
 
16 Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 words and explanations of classification^ we reserve 
 further matter of this kind for the opportunities that 
 must arise, and direct our attention to living forms by 
 watching the EuglencB which our water-drop contains. 
 We have before us a number of elegant spindle-shaped 
 bodies, somewhat thicker in front than behind, and in 
 what may be called the head there glitters a brilliant 
 red speck, commonly called an eye-spot, although, like 
 the eyes of potatoes, it cannot see. Round this eye- 
 spot the tissues are clear, like glass ; but the body of 
 the creature is of a rich vegetable green, which shines 
 and glistens as it catches the light. Some swim rapidly 
 with a rollicking motion, while others twist themselves 
 into all manner of shapes. Now the once delicate 
 spindle is oddly contorted, now it swells out in the 
 middle, like a top, and now it rolls itself into a ball. 
 
 — a, motile ; and I, resting condition of Euglense. 
 
 The drawings will afford some idea of these protean 
 changes, but they must be seen before their harlequin 
 character can be thoroughly appreciated. Some of the 
 specimens exhibit delicate lines running lengthwise, and 
 taking a spiral twist as the creature moves about ; but 
 in none can any mouth be discerned, and their antics. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 17 
 
 althougli energetic and comical, afford no certain indi- 
 cations of either purpose or will. What are they ? 
 animals or vegetables? or something betwixt and 
 between ? 
 
 The first impression of any casual observer would be 
 to declare in favour of their animality ; but before this 
 can be settled, comes the question, what is an animal, 
 and how does it differ from a vegetable ? and upon this 
 the learned do by no means agree. One writer con- 
 siders the presence of sta7'ch in any object a proof that 
 it belongs to the dominions of Flora, while another 
 would decide the issue by ascertaining whether it evolves 
 oxygen and absorbs carbon, as most plants do, or whether 
 it evolves carbon and absorbs oxygen, as decided SLuimsils 
 do. Dr. Carpenter asserts that the distinction between 
 Protophyta and Protozoa (first or simplest plants and 
 animals), "lies in the nature of their food, and the 
 method of its introduction, for whilst the Protophyte 
 obtains the materials of its nutrition from the air and 
 moisture that surround it, and possesses the power of 
 detaching oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen from 
 their previous binary combinations, and of uniting them 
 into ternary and quaternary organic compounds (chlo- 
 rophyll, starch, albumen, &c.), the simplest Protozoa, 
 in common with the highest members of the animal 
 kingdom, seems utterly destitute of any such power, 
 makes, so to speak, a stomach for itself in the substance 
 of its body, into which it injects the solid particles that 
 constitute its food, and within which it subjects them 
 to a regular process of digestion.'^ 
 
 Unfortunately it is very difficult to apply this simple 
 
 2 
 
18 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 theory to the dubious objects which lie on the border- 
 land of the animal worlds and no other theory that has 
 been propounded appears to meet all cases. Some 
 naturalists do not expect to find a broad line of de- 
 markation between the two great divisions of living 
 things^ but others characterise such an idea as ^' un- 
 philosophical/' in spite of which; however^ we incline 
 towards it. 
 
 Mr. Gosse^ whose opinion is entitled to great respect, 
 calls the Euglence '^ animals '^ in his ^ Evenings with 
 the Microscope/ but from the aggregate of recorded 
 observations it seems that they evolve oxygen, are 
 coloured with the colouring matter of plants, reproduce 
 their species in a manner analogous to plants, and have 
 in some cases been clearly traced to the vegetable 
 world. It is, however, possible that some Euglence 
 forms may be animal and others vegetable, and while 
 their place at nature^s table is being decided, they must 
 be content to be called Phytozoa, which, as we have 
 before explained, is merely Zooj^hyte turned upside 
 down. 
 
 Some authorities have thought their animality proved 
 by the high degree of contractility which their tissues 
 evince. This, however, cannot go for much, as all 
 physiologists admit contractility to belong to the vege- 
 table tissues of the sensitive plant, " Venus' Fly-trap/' 
 &c., and a little more or less cannot mark the boundary 
 between two orders of being. 
 
 We shall have occasion again to notice the ProtO' 
 phytes, and now pass to the Protozoa, of which we have 
 a good illustration in the Vorticella already spoken of. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life, 1 
 
 In the group before us a number of elegant bells or 
 vases stand at the end of long stalks, as shown at the 
 top of the frontispiece, while round the tops of the bells, 
 the vibrations of a wreath or cilia ])roduce little vortices 
 or whirlpools, and hence comes the family name. This 
 current brings particles of all sorts to the mouth near 
 the rim of the bells, and the creature seems not entirely- 
 destitute of power to choose or reject the morsels ac- 
 cording to its taste. Every now and then the stalk of 
 some specimen is suddenly twisted into a spiral, and 
 contracted, so as to bring the bell almost to the ground. 
 Then the stem gracefully elongates again, and the cilia 
 repeat their lively game. 
 
 The general effect can be seen very well by a power 
 of about sixty linear, but one of them from one to two 
 hundred is necessary to bring out the details, and a 
 practised observer will use still more magnification with 
 good effect. They should be examined by a moderately 
 oblique light, or most of the cilia are apt to be rendered 
 invisible, and also by dark ground illumination. This 
 may be accomplished in a well-made microscope by 
 turning the mirror quite oirt of the plane of the axis of 
 the instrument, that is to say, on one side of the space 
 the body would occupy if it were prolonged. By this 
 means, and by placing the lamp at an angle with the 
 mirror, that must be learnt by experiment, all the light 
 that reaches the eye has first passed through the object, 
 and is refracted by it out of the line it was taking, 
 which would have carried it entirely away. Or the 
 object may be illuminated by an apparatus called a 
 spotted lens, which is a small bull's eye placed under 
 
20 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life, 
 
 the stage, and having all the centre of its face covered 
 with a plaster of black silk. In this method the cen- 
 tral or direct rays from the mirror are obstructed, but 
 those which strike the edge of the bull's-eye are bent 
 towards the object, which they penetrate and illuminate 
 
 Vorticella, with posterior Vorticella in process of self-division, 
 
 circlet of cilia in process of A new frontal wreath in formation in 
 separation,300 linear. Stein. each of the semi-lunar spaces. 
 
 if it is sufficiently transparent and refractive. Another 
 mode of dark ground illumination is by employing an 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 
 elegant instrument called a parabolic illuminator, which 
 need not be described. 
 
 Different specimens and species of Vorticelice vary in 
 the length of their bells from one three or four 
 thousandth to one hundred and twentieth of an inch, 
 and when they are tolerably large, the dark ground 
 illumination produces a beautiful effect. The bells 
 shine with a pearly iridescent lustre, and their cilia 
 flash with brilliant prismatic colours. 
 
 The Vorticellina belong to the upper division of the 
 Protozoa — the ciliata, or ciliated animalcules, and they 
 
 Vorticella microstoma, showing 
 alimentary tube, ciliated mouth, 
 and formation of a gemma at the 
 base, 300 linear. — Stein. 
 
 Vorticella microstoma, the en- 
 cysted animal jirotruding through 
 a supposed rupture of the tunic. 
 
 have a mouth, an oesophagus, and an orifice for the 
 exit of their food. 
 
 Many observers usea to ascribe to those creatures a 
 
22 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 complete intestinal canal^ but such an apparatus is now 
 believed not to exist in any of the Infusoria. Food 
 particles_, after leaving the oesophagus, are thrust for- 
 ward into the sarcode, or soft flesh, and any cavity thus 
 formed acts as a stomach. 
 
 The bells or cups are not, as might be fancied from 
 a casual inspection, open like wineglasses at the top, 
 but furnished with a retractile disk or cover, on which 
 the cilia are arranged. Their stalks are not simple 
 stems, but are hollow tubes, which in the genus Vorti- 
 cella are furnished with a muscular band, by whose 
 agency the movements are principally made. 
 
 Some of the Vorticellids will be observed to leave 
 their stalks, having developed cilia round their base, 
 and may be seen to swim about in the enjoyment of 
 individual life. They are also capable of becoming 
 encystedj that is, of secreting a gelatinous cover. 
 
 Encysted Yorticella, showing the ohliteration of special organs by 
 the advancement of the process. — Pritchard. 
 
 These changes are exhibited in the annexed cuts, 
 which are copied from known authorities. By careful 
 observation of the bodies of Vorticellids, a contractile 
 vesicle may be observed, which appears to cause a 
 movement of fluids, that is probably connected either 
 with respiration or secretion. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 23 
 
 Another piece of apparatus in tliis family, but not 
 confined to it, is the so-called nucleus, uhich in this 
 case is of a horseshoe shape and granular texture, 
 and greater solidity than the surrounding parts. The 
 functions of this organ formed the subject of various 
 conjectures, but it is now generally held to be an 
 ovary. 
 
 In common with many of the lower animals, the 
 Vorticellids have three ways of multiplying their race. 
 One by fission, or division of their bodies : another by 
 
 • Vorticella microstoma, in process of encystment, 300 linear ; in the 
 last the inclosing tunic is plainly developed. — Stein. 
 
 ^?<c?5, somewhat analogous to those of plants; and another 
 by reproductive germs. These processes will come 
 again under our notice, and we shall leave the Vorti- 
 cellids for the present by observing that if they are 
 fed with a very small quantity of indigo or carmine, 
 the vacuoles or spaces, into which their nutriment 
 passes, will be clearly observed. Ehrenberg thought 
 in these and similar creatures that every vacuole 
 was a distinct stomach, and that all the stomachs 
 were connected by an intestinal canal ; hence his name 
 
24 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 Polygastrica, or many stomaclied. In these views lie 
 has not been followed by later observers_, and it is pro- 
 bable he was misled, partly by pushing the process of 
 reasoning from the analogies of higher animals much 
 too far, and partly by the imperfection of the lasses he 
 employed. 
 
 Having thus briefly considered the Vorticellids we 
 
 Rotifer vulgaris. — A, mouth, or gizzard; B, contractile 
 vesicle. — Micrographic Dictionary. 
 
 N.B. — When the cilia and tail part are retracted, and the 
 body shortened, the creature assumes an obtuse oval form. 
 
 must turn to the wheel-bearer, who belongs to a 
 higher race than even the ciliated Protozoa. We left 
 her crawling about with her snout or proboscis pro- 
 truded, but now she has moored herself by her tail-foot, 
 pulled in her nose, and put out two groups of cilia. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 25 
 
 which look like revolving wheels, and a little below 
 them is seen a gizzard in a state of active work. After 
 a little while she swims away with her wheels going, 
 and her tail, forked at the end, is found to be telescopic, 
 or capable of being pulled in and out. As the cilia 
 play, the neighbouring water is agitated, and the mul- 
 titudes of small objects are brought by the whirlpools 
 within her ravenous maw. But the strangest thing of 
 all is that inside her body is seen a young one ; in this 
 case a large and fine infant, which, like " a chip of the 
 old block,'^ imitates the parental motions, thrusts forth 
 its cilia and works its gizzard.^ In other genera the 
 eggs are hatched externally, but this one is ovoviparous, 
 and carries its nursery inside. 
 
 A very slight investigation is sufficient to show that 
 in the wheelbearer we have made a great advance 
 towards a higher organization than we discovered in 
 the preceding creatures. We witness what the learned 
 call a ^'differentiation'^ of parts and tissues, and a 
 '^ specialization '^ of organs. The head is plainly dis- 
 tinguishable from the body, the skin or integument is 
 distinctly different from the internal tissues, behind the 
 eyes we can detect a nervous ganglion or miniature 
 brain, the gizzard is a complicated piece of vital 
 mechanism, such as we have not met with before, and 
 in various parts of the transparent inside we see organs 
 to which particular functions are assigned. 
 
 It was at one time thought that Rotifers were hcr- 
 
 * This was met with in the summer, but is described here to avoid 
 repetition. I do not know whethei' the eggs are hatched in very cold 
 weather. 
 
26 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 maplirodite — uniting both sexes in one body — but tbat 
 idea is now generally abandoned, for in many species 
 the males have been discovered, and the fair sex may 
 be gratified to hear that they are without doubt the 
 ^' inferior animals." Their function is simply to assist 
 the female in producing young, and as this can be 
 quickly accomplished, their lives are short, and they 
 are not supplied with the gizzard and digestive appa- 
 ratus, which their lady-loves possess. Much discussion 
 has taken place as to the rank which the Rotifers hold 
 in the animal kingdom, some naturalists thinking them 
 relations of the crabs, and others believing them to 
 belong to the family of the worms. Professor Huxley, 
 who adopts the latter view, which has the most friends, 
 groups the lower Annuhsa together under the name of 
 Annuloida, in which he includes Annelides, or worms 
 of various kinds, the Echinodermata (or " spine skins," 
 among which are the star-fish and sea hedgehogs), and 
 some other families. He considers the Rotifers to be 
 '' the permanent forms of Echinoderm larvae." This 
 does not mean that they were ever produced by 
 Echinoderms, and had their development checked, but 
 that thev resemble them in organization, and illustrate 
 a general law, observable in animated beings, namely, 
 that the lower creatures are like the imperfect stages of 
 higher animals, and that all things are formed accord- 
 ing to general principles, and exhibit a uniformity of 
 plan. 
 
 Mr. Gosse adopts a different view, and while admit- 
 ting a connection between the Rotifers and the worms, 
 
Marvels oj Pond-Life. 27 
 
 adduces important reasons for associating them ^vitll 
 the insects. 
 
 Leaving zoologists to settle their position, we may 
 remark that the Kotifers form a very numerous family, 
 presenting very great diversities of structure, some of 
 the most interesting of which we shall meet with in the 
 course of our rambles ; but they all possess a gizzard, 
 which, though differing in complexity, is throughout 
 formed upon the same principle, and that we must now 
 explain. 
 
 We have called the masticatory apparatus of the 
 Rotifers a gizzard ; but Mr. Gosse, who has done most 
 to elucidate its structure, contends that it is a mouth ; 
 and in some species it is frequently protruded, and used 
 like the mouth of higher animals. Taking one of the 
 most typical forms of this organ, and drawing our illus- 
 trations from Mr. Gosse^s admirable paper in the 
 "Transactions of the Royal Society,^' we may describe 
 it, when completely developed, as consisting of three 
 lobes, having a more or less rounded form. The 
 eminent naturalist we have named calls the whole organ 
 the mustax, and states that it is composed of dense mus- 
 cular fibre. The tube which leads down to it he 
 designates the " buccal (mouth) funnel,^' and the tube 
 that issues from it, and conveys the food to the digestive 
 sac or stomach, he calls the oesophaf/us, in conformity 
 with the nomenclature applied to creatures whose 
 mouths are in the usual place. Inside the mouth - 
 gizzard are placed two organs, which work like ham- 
 mers, and which Mr. Gosse therefore names mallei. 
 The hammers work against a sort of anvil, which is 
 
28 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 called incuSj the Latin for that implement. Each 
 hammer consists of two portions articulated by a hinge 
 joint. The lower portion, the manubrium, or handle, 
 gives motion to the upper portion, which from its 
 shape is named the uncus, or hook. The unci are 
 furnished with finger-like processes of teeth, which 
 vary in number. There are five or six in the best 
 developed specimens. These hooks or teeth work 
 against each other, and against the incus, or anvil, 
 which consists of distinct articulated portions, of which 
 
 B 
 
 Gizzard of Notomata. 
 
 the principal are two rami, or branches, jointed so that 
 they can open and close like a pair of shears. These 
 two rest upon the third portion, which is called the 
 fulcrum. Some faint idea of the working of the 
 toothed hammers may be obtained by rubbing the 
 knuckles of both hands together, but the motion is 
 more complicated, and the rami play their part in the 
 trituration of the food. Mr. Gosse states that when 
 an objectionable morsel has got as far as this mouth- 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life, 29 
 
 gizzard^ " it is thrown back by a peculiar scoop-like 
 action of the uncij very curious to witness." The 
 foregoing diagram will help the reader to comprehend 
 this description, but no opportunity should be lost for 
 viewing this remarkable organ busy at work in the 
 living animals. 
 
 The respiration of the Rotifers is supposed to be 
 effected by the passage of water through vessels run- 
 ning round them, and called the " water vascular 
 system," and in addition to their eyes, which often 
 disappear in adult specimens, the organ we described 
 as standing out like a pig-tail, as our acquaintance 
 crawled along, is thought to act as an ai(itenna, or 
 feeler_, and brings its possessor in further relation to 
 the external world. It is also called the calcaVj or 
 spur, and is furnished with cilia or bristles at its 
 extremity. 
 
 Sometimes the particles swallowed by the Common 
 Rotifer are large enough for their course to be traced, 
 but there is frequently a great commotion and grinding 
 of the gizzard, without any appreciable cause, although 
 doubtless something is taken in, and when the creature 
 is tired, or has had enough, we see both head and tail 
 retracted, and the body assumes a globular form. In 
 another chapter, when viewing a Philodine, we shall see 
 how in the family to which the Common Rotifer 
 belongs, the gizzard departs from the perfect type. 
 
30 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FEBRUARY. 
 
 Visit to Hampstead — Small ponds — Water-fleas — Water-beetle — Snails 
 — Polyps — Hydra viridis — The dipping-tube — A glass cell — The 
 Hydra and its prey — Chydorus sphsericus and Canthocamptus, or 
 friends and their escapes — Cothurnia — Polyp buds — Catching 
 Polyps— jMode of viewing them — Structure of Polyps — Sarcode — 
 Polyps stimulated by light — Are they conscious ? — Tentacles and 
 poison threads — Paramecium — Trachelius — Motions of Animalcules, 
 whether automatic or directed by a will — Their restless character. 
 
 T has been a bitterly cold nighty and as the sun 
 shines on a clear keen morning, and glistens 
 in the hoar-frost which covers the trees, it 
 might seem an unpropitious time for visiting the ponds, 
 in search of microscopic prey. We will, however, 
 try our luck, and take a brisk trot to the top of 
 Hampstead Heath, where the air is still keener, and 
 the ice more thick. Arriving at the highest point, 
 London appears on one side enveloped in its usual 
 great coat of smoke, through which St. PauPs big 
 dome, with a score or two of towers and steeples, can 
 be dimly made out ; while looking towards Harrow-on- 
 the Hill, or Barnet, we see the advantage of country 
 air in the sharpness with which distant objects cu«t the 
 blue sky. We leave the large ponds for another time, 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. _ 31 
 
 and hunt out the little hollows among the furze and 
 fern. One looks promising from tlic bright green 
 vegetation to be discovered under the sheet of ice, 
 which is almost firm enough to bear human weight. 
 
 Breaking a convenient hole we hook up some of the 
 water-plants, and place them in a wide- mouthed vial, 
 which we fill with water, and cursorily examine with a 
 pocket-lens. Some water-fleas briskly skipping about, 
 and a beautiful little beetle, with an elegant dotted 
 pattern on his brown back, and a glistening film of air 
 covering his belly, show that we have not been unsuc- 
 cessful, although we must wait till we get home to 
 know the extent of our findings, among which, however, 
 we can only discern the graceful spiral shell of a small 
 water-snail, the Planorbis. 
 
 Arriving at home the bottle was left undisturbed for 
 some hours in a warm light place, and then on being 
 examined several specimens of that beautiful polyp, the 
 Hydra viridis, were seen attached to the glass, and 
 spreading their delicate tentacles in search of prey. 
 One of the polyps is carefully removed by the dipping- 
 tube, a small glass tube, open at both ends. The fore- 
 finger is placed upon the top, and when the other end 
 is brought over the object the finger is raised for an 
 instant, and as the water rushes in the little hvdra 
 comes too, and is placed in a glass cell, about half an 
 inch wide, and one tenth of an inch deep. These cells 
 are obtained from the opticians, and cemented with 
 varnish or marine glue to an ordinary glass slide. 
 After an object has been placed in one of them, a little 
 water is taken up in the dipping-tube, and the cell 
 
32 
 
 Marvels of Pond- Life, 
 
 filled until the fluid stands in a convex heap above its 
 brim. We then select a round glass cover^ and press 
 
 Sydra viridis with developed young one, and bud beginning 
 
 to sprout. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 33 
 
 it gently on the walls of our cell. A few drops of 
 superfluous water escape, and we have the cell quite 
 full, and the cover held tight by force of the capillary 
 attraction between the water and the glass. 
 
 The polyp deposited in one of these water cages is 
 then transferred to the stage of the microscope, and its 
 proceedings watched. At first it looks like a shapeless 
 mass of apple-green jelly. Soon, however, the tail end 
 of the creature is fixed to the glass, the body elongates, 
 and the tentacles (in this case eight) expand some- 
 thing after the manner of the leaves of a graceful 
 palm. 
 
 By accident two small Water Fleas were imprisoned 
 with the polyp, and one (a shrimp-like looking crea- 
 ture, carrying behind her a great bag of eggs) came 
 into contact with the tentacles, and seemed paralysed 
 for a time. The hydra made no attempt to convey the 
 captive to its mouth, but held it tight until another 
 Water Flea, a round merry little fellow {Chi/ dor us 
 sphmricus), came to the rescue, and assisted Cantho- 
 camptus to escape by tugging at her tail. This friendly 
 action may not have been prompted by the intelligence 
 which seemed to suggest it, but those who have kept 
 tame soldier-crabs and prawns in an aquarium, will 
 not be indisposed to attribute to the crustaceans more 
 brains than they have usually credit for. It must, 
 however, be confessed that the subsequent conduct of 
 Mrs. Canthocamptus did not indicate the possession of 
 much prudence, for she learnt no lesson from experi- 
 ence, but repeatedly swam against her enemy's tenta- 
 cles, suffered many captures, and only escaped bein 
 
 3 
 
 or 
 
 O 
 
34 
 
 Mai'vels of Pond-Life. 
 
 devoured through the indiflPerence; or want of appetite^ 
 which the polyp evinced. 
 
 A, Canfhocamptus minutus ; B, Chydorus splKEricus ; C and 
 D, Capsules and poison-tliread of polyp j E, Tricodina pedi- 
 culus, side view and under view; F, Kerona polyporum. — 
 Microg. Did. 
 
 On the body of the Canthocamptus were some 
 small transparent vases or bottles^ containing living 
 objects, which sprang up and down. These were 
 
Marveh of Pond-Life. 
 
 35 
 
 members of the Vorticella family, called Cothurnia, and 
 will be hereafter described. 
 
 Watching the hydra it was curious to note the 
 changes of form which these creatures are able to 
 assume. Now the tentacles were short and thick, and 
 the body squat • now the body was elongated, like the 
 
 Sydra viridis, in various skiipes. 
 
 stem of a palm tree,, and the tentacles hung gracefully 
 from the top. From some of the polyps little round 
 buds, were growing, while other buds were already 
 developed into miniature copies of the parent, and only 
 attached by a slender stalk. In a few days many of 
 these left the maternal side, fixed their own little tails 
 to the glass, and commenced housekeeping on their 
 own account. 
 
 Polyps may be obtained at all times of the year by 
 bringing home duckweed, conferva, and other water- 
 plants from the ponds. Some hauls may be unsuc- 
 cessful, but if one pond is not propitious others should 
 be tried. The plants should be put in a capacious 
 
36 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 vessel of water_, and placed in the liglit, where, if polyps 
 be present, they will show themselves within twenty- 
 four hours, either attached to the sides of the glass, or 
 hanging from the plants, or suspended head downwards 
 from the upper film of the water. They are elegant 
 objects, and may be kept without difficulty for some 
 weeks. After being confined in a small quantity of 
 water for purposes of examination, they should be care- 
 fully replaced in the larger vessel, and may thus be 
 used again and again without suflPering any injury. A 
 low power — a three or two-inch glass — or a one- 
 inch, reduced by employing the erector — is the most 
 convenient for examining the whole creature, but 
 higher powers are necessary to make out its minute 
 structure. They should be viewed with direct and 
 oblique light, as transparent and also as opaque 
 objects. In the latter case the " Lieberkuhn,^' or 
 polished silver speculum, is convenient, and if the 
 microscope is not furnished with Lister^s dark wells, 
 a small piece of black paper may be stuck behind the 
 object, by simply wetting it with the tongue."^ 
 
 Although the polyps are remarkable for the sim- 
 plicity of their organization, they do not the less 
 exhibit the wonderful nature of animal life. Their 
 bodies are composed of the substance, called sarcode, 
 in which is imbedded a colouring matter resembling that 
 in the leaves of plants ; every part possesses irritability 
 and contractility, and they are very sensitive to the 
 stimulus of light. The outer layer of their bodies is 
 
 * The side silver reflector is useful for illaminatiug such objects. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 37 
 
 harder than the inner layer. These layers are scverallv 
 called ectoderm and endoderm. They may be cut and 
 grafted like trees, and if turned inside out, the new 
 inside digests and assimilates as well as the old. 
 Whether any form of consciousness can belong to 
 creatures which have no distinct nervous system is 
 open to doubt, but it would seem probaljle from their 
 movements that food and light afford them something 
 like a pleasurable sensation in a very humble degree. 
 If we were sufficiently acquainted with the secrets of 
 molecular combination we might discover that the 
 various functions of these simple organisms were dis- 
 charged by different 2^articles, although it is only in 
 higher creatures that muscular particles are aggregated 
 into muscles, or nerve particles into nerves. 
 
 Having examined the general appearance and pro- 
 ceedings of the hydra, let us cut off a tentacle, or take 
 a small specimen and gently crush it by pressing down 
 the cover of the live box, and place the object so pre- 
 pared under a power of about three hundred linear. If 
 we then illuminate it with a moderate quantity of oblique 
 light, we shall discover round the edge of the tentacle 
 a number of small cells or capsules, from some of 
 which a very slender wire or thread will be emitted."'^ 
 These are the stinging organs of the polyp, and 
 resemble those which jNIr. Gosse has so ably elucidated 
 in the sea anemones. Some writers have endeavoured 
 to show that they are not stinging organs at all, but so 
 large an amount of evidence to the contrary is accu- 
 mulated in Mr. Gosse's ' Actinologia Britannica,' 
 
 * See page 34, C and D. 
 
38 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life, 
 
 that no reasonable doubt remains. The stinsrinor 
 capsules of the polyp are shown in the annexed sketchy 
 
 Anguillula pierced by stinging organs of the Sijdra viridis. 
 
 and also the way in which they are employed, for it 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 39 
 
 fortunately happened that on exposing one of the 
 hydras to pressure in the live box, a small worm 
 {Anguillula) escaped, which had been pierced with the 
 minute weapons which are supposed to convey a poison 
 into the wound. The autliors of the ' Micro<;rap]iic 
 Dictionary' think that the prongs of the forks, 
 which will be seen to point upwards in the sketch,"^ 
 are springs, and occupy a reversed position in the 
 capsule cells, and that their function is to throw out 
 the threads. However this may be, the polyps, and 
 similarly endowed creatures, have the power of darting 
 out their poison threads with considerable force, and 
 Mr. Gosse found that the anemone was able to pierce 
 a thick piece of human skin. 
 
 The same excellent observer attributes the emission 
 of the anemone poison threads, which he considers 
 hollow, to the injection of a fluid. In their quiescent 
 state, he thinks they are drawn in, like the finger of a 
 glove, and are forced out as the liquid enters their 
 slender tubes. Possibly the polyp stinging organs may 
 have the same structure. 
 
 Notwithstanding their dangerous weapons, polyps 
 are often infested with a parasite, tlie Trichodina pedi- 
 culus, as shown in Fig. e, page 49, and it must happen 
 that either this visitation is not disagreeable, or that 
 the Trichodina is not influenced by the poison. 
 
 As the plants in the bottles decayed, some of the 
 animalcules died off* and others appeared. In one 
 bottle, containing decaying chara, Paramecia abounded. 
 The Paramecia, of which there arc various species, 
 
 * See page 38. 
 
40 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 have always been favourite objects with microscopists. 
 The Germans call them ^' slipper animalcules/^ and 
 they vary in size from 1 — OG"""^ to 1 — 1150"^ They are 
 flat rounded-oblong creatures, with a distinct integu- 
 ment or skin, ^^ through which numerous vibratile cilia 
 pass in regular rows/^f They are furnished with a 
 distinct mouth, and adult specimens exhibit star-shaped 
 contractile vesicles in great perfection. 
 
 The swarm of specimens before us belong to one 
 species, Paramecium aurelia, the Chrysalis animalcule^ 
 and they crowd every portion of the little water-drop 
 we have taken up, and examined with a power of about 
 one hundred linear. When they are sufficiently quiet 
 a power of about four hundred may be used with 
 advantage, and Pritchard recommends adding a little 
 indigo and carmine to the water, in order to see the 
 cilia more clearly, or rather to render their action more 
 plain. The cilia are disposed lengthwise, and Ehrenberg 
 counted in some rows sixty or seventy of them, making 
 an aggregate of three thousand six hundred and forty 
 organs of motion in one small animated speck. This 
 number seems large, but although we have never per- 
 formed the feat of counting them, we should have 
 expected it to prove much greater. Unlike most 
 animalcules they are susceptible of being preserved by 
 drying upon glass, and we su])join a figure from 
 Pritchard, of one thus treated, in which the star-shaped 
 vesicles are clearly seen. These curious organs com- 
 
 * The usual mode of giving dimensions is by fractions thus 
 expressed : 1 — 96" means one ninety-sixth of an inch, 
 f * ]\Iicrographic Dictionary.' 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 41 
 
 municate with other vessels^ and, as wc have previously 
 stated, are probably connected with respiration and 
 excretion. 
 
 Paramecium aurelia. 
 A dried specimen showing the vesicles. — Pritchard. 
 
 The genus Paramecium is now confined to those 
 creatures which exhibit rows of longitudinal cilia of 
 uniform length, which are destitute of hooks, styles, or 
 other organs of motion than the cilia, which have a 
 lateral mouth, and no eye-spots. One mode of increase 
 is by division, which may be easily observed ; another 
 is through the formation of true eggs as traced by 
 Balbiani. 
 
 Another of the treasures from the pond was a species 
 oi Tracheliiis J or long-necked ciliated animalcule, which 
 kept darting in and out of a slimy den, attached to the 
 leaf of a water-plant. The body was stout and fish- 
 shaped, the tail blunt, and the neck furnished with long 
 conspicuous cilia, which enabled the advancing and 
 retreating movements to be made with great rapidity. 
 The motions of this creature exhibit more appearance 
 of purpose and design than is common with animal- 
 
42 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 cules^ but in proportion as these observations are pro- 
 longedj the student will be impressed with the difficulty 
 of assuming that anything like a reasoning faculty and 
 volition^ is proved by movements that bear some 
 resemblance to those of higher animals^ whose cerebral 
 capacities are beyond a doubt. It is, however, almost 
 impossible to witness motions which are neither con- 
 stant nor pel iodic, without fancying them to be dictated 
 by some sort of intelligence. We must, nevertheless, 
 be cautious, lest we allow ourselves to be deceived by 
 reasoning so seductive, as the vital operations of the 
 lowest organisms may be merely illustrations of blind 
 obedience to stimuli, in which category we must reckon 
 food, and until we arrive at forms of being which 
 clearly possess a ganglionic system, we have no cer- 
 tainty that a real will exists, even of the simplest kind ; 
 and perhaps we must go still higher before we ought to 
 believe in its presence. 
 
 Ehrenberg was much struck with the restless cha- 
 racter of many infusoria — whether he looked at them 
 by day or by night, they were never still. In fact 
 their motions are like the involuntary actions which 
 take place in the human frame ; and if attached to 
 their bodies we observe cilia that never sleep, the 
 living membrane of some of our own organs, the nose, 
 for example, is similarly ciliated, and keeps up a per- 
 petual though unconscious work. 
 
Man-ek of Pond- Life, 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MARCU. 
 
 Parainecia— Effects of Sunlight— Pterodina patiua— Curious tail- 
 Use of a Compressorium — Internal structure of Pterodina — Meto- 
 pidia — Trichodinapodiculus— Cothurnia — Salpina— Its three-sided 
 box — Protrusion of its gizzard mouth. 
 
 HE Paramecia, noticed in the last chapter, 
 have increased and multiplied their kind 
 without any fear lest the due adjustment 
 between population and food should fail to be preserved. 
 A small drop of the scum from the surface of the water 
 in their bottle is an astounding sight. They move 
 hither and thither in countless numbers, seldom 
 jostling, although thick as herrings in a tub, and in 
 many portions of the field the process of self-fissure, or 
 multiplication by division, is going on without any 
 symptoms of discomfort on the part of tlie parent crea- 
 ture. This is an interesting sight, but we will not 
 linger over it, for the sun is shining, and there is enough 
 warmth in the air to make it probable that the ponds 
 will be more prolific than in the cold winter months. 
 Sunshine is a great thing for the microscopic hunter ; 
 it brings swarm of creatures to the surface, and the 
 Rotifers are especially fond of its genial beams. Even 
 
44 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 if we imitate it by a bright lamp, we sball attract 
 crowds of live dancing specks to the illuminated side of 
 a bottle, and may thus easily effect ^their capture by 
 the dipping-tube. 
 
 This year the March sunshine was not lost, for on 
 the third of that month I obtained a bottleful of 
 conferva from a pond about a mile from my house, and 
 lying at the foot of the Highgate hills. Water-fleas 
 were immediately discovered in abundance, together 
 with some minute worms^ and a ferocious-looking larva 
 
 Pterodina patina. 
 
 covered with scales ; but what attracted most attention 
 was a Rotifer, like a transparent animated soup-plate, 
 from near the middle of which depended a tail, which 
 swayed from side to side, as the creature swam along:. 
 The head exhibited two little red eves: two tufts of 
 cilia rowed the living disk through the water, and the 
 gizzard worked with a rapid snapping motion, that left 
 no doubt the ciliary whirlpools had brought home no 
 slender stores of invisible food. Sometimes the end of 
 the tail acted as a sucker, and fixed the animal tightly 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 45 
 
 to the glass, when the wheels were protruded, and tlie 
 body swayed to and fro. Then the sucker action 
 ceased, and as the creature swam away, a tuft of cilia 
 was thrust out from the extremity of the tail. A power 
 of one hundred linear was sufficient to enable the 
 general nature of this beautiful object to be observed, 
 but to bring out the details, much greater amplification 
 
 Pterodina patina — gizzard. 
 
 was required, and this would be useless if the little 
 fidget could not be kept still. 
 
 The size of the creature, whose name we may as well 
 mention was Pterodina patina, rendered this practicable, 
 but required some care. The longest diameter of the 
 body, which wafe not quite round, was about 1 — 120", 
 so that it was visible to the naked eye, and as a good 
 many were swimming together, one could be captured 
 without much difficulty, and transferred with a very 
 small drop of water to the live-box. Then the cover 
 
46 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 had to be put on so as to squeeze tlie animal just 
 enough to keep it still without doing it any damage, or 
 completely stopping its motions. This was a trouble- 
 some task^ and often a little overpressure prevented its 
 success. 
 
 Some observers always use in these cases an instru- 
 ment called a compressorium, by which the amount of 
 pressure is regulated by a lever or a fine screw ; but 
 whether the student possess one or not, he should learn 
 to accomplish the same result by dexterously manipu- 
 lating a well-made live-box. We will suppose the 
 Pterodina successfully caged, and a power of about one 
 hundred and fifty linear brought to bear upon her, for 
 our specimen is of the " female persuasion.^^ This will 
 suffice to demonstrate the disposition and relation of 
 the several parts, after which one of from four hundred 
 to five hundred linear may be used with great advan- 
 tage, though in this case the illumination must be 
 carefully adjusted, and its intensity and obliquity fre- 
 quently changed, until the best effect is obtained. 
 
 We find, on thus viewing the Pterodina, that .it is 
 a complex, highly-organized creature, having its body 
 protected by a carapace, like the shell of a tortoise, but 
 as flexible as a sheet of white gelatine paper, which it 
 resembles in appearance. Round the margin of this 
 carapace are a number of little bosses or dots, which 
 vary in different individuals. The cilia are not disposed, 
 as at first appeared, in two separate and distinct disks, 
 but are continuous, as in the annexed sketch. Down 
 each side are two long muscular bands, distinctly 
 striated, and when they contract, the ciliary apparatus 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 47 
 
 is drawn in. As this contraction takes place, two 
 apparently elastic bands, to which the ciliary loI)cs are 
 attached, are bent downwards, till they look like the C 
 springs behind a gentleman's carriage ; and they regain 
 their former position of slight curvature, when the cilia 
 are again thrust out. 
 
 Pterodina patina — tail-foot. 
 
 The gizzard is three-lobed, and curionsly grasped by 
 forked expansions of the handles of the hammers. The 
 tail, or tail-foot, can be withdrawn or thrust out at the 
 will of the creature ; and when in a good position for 
 observation, a slight additional pressure will keep it so 
 for examination. Delicate muscular longitudinal bands, 
 forked towards the end of their course, supply the moans 
 of performing some of its motions, and one, or perhaps 
 two, spiral threads extend through the upper half of its 
 length, and either act as muscles, or as elastic springs for 
 its extension. The intestines and other viscera are 
 clearly exhibited, and a strong ciliary action conducts 
 the food to the gizzard-mouth. 
 
 To return to the tail. One spiral fibre is easily dis- 
 
48 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 covered ; but I have often^ and at an interval of months^ 
 seen the appearance of two, and am in some doubt 
 whether this was a deception, arising from the com- 
 pression employed, or was a genuine indication. 
 
 Where this Rotifer occurs I have usually found it 
 plentiful, but unfortunately could obtain no constant 
 supplies after I had determined to make a special study 
 
 A. Metopidia acuminata, as drawn by Mr. Gosse. B. Specimen 
 as seen and described in text. c. Mouth or gizzard. 
 
 of the remarkable tail, which is much more complicated 
 than I have described. The Pterodina lived for some 
 time in captivity, and for a week or two I could obtain 
 them from my glass tank. They were likewise to be 
 found for some weeks in the same part of the pond, but 
 not all over it, until one day not a single specimen 
 could be discovered; notwithstanding a persevering search 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 49 
 
 nor was I afterwards able to get any from that pond 
 during the remainder of the year. 
 
 Several other Rotifers, with and without carapaces, 
 were among the same mass of conferva, among them 
 a Metopidia,vf\t\\ a firm shell, a forked jointed tail, and 
 a projection in front which worked like a pickaxe among 
 the decaying weed. There were likewise specimens of 
 the long-necked animalcules (Trachclii), groups of 
 Vorticeila, some specimens of Volvox, and a small 
 Trichodina pediculuSj which, when magnified two luin- 
 dred and sixty linear, was about the size of a sixpence 
 
 260 
 
 Trichodina pediculus. 
 
 and equally ronnd. The edge was beautifully fringed 
 with a circle of cilia ; in an inner circle was a row of 
 locomotive organs, and the centre exhibited vacuoles 
 constantly opening and shutting. This creature, as 
 before explained, is often found as a parasite upon the 
 polyps. On one occasion a glimpse was caught of a 
 Rotifer similar in shape to the common wheel animal- 
 cule, but with a yellow inside. Possibly it was the 
 object so beautifully delineated by ^Ir. Gosse, in his 
 ^"^ Tenby ,^' and described as the " Yellow Philodine," 
 but this must remain in doubt, as it managed to escape 
 before it could be secured. 
 
 4 
 
50 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 51 
 
 By the 18tli of the month the Vorticellids were much 
 more plentiful, and tlieir clianges easily watched ; many 
 left their stalks while under the microscope, after which 
 some rushed about like animated and demented hats, 
 others twirled round like tee-to-tums, while others took 
 a rest before commencing their wild career. But the 
 common Vorticellse were not the only or the most in- 
 teresting representations of their charming order, for 
 upon some threads of conferva were descried several 
 elegant crystal vases standing upon short foot- stalks, 
 and containing little creatures that jumped up and down 
 like " Jack in the box/^ These were so minute, that a 
 power of four hundred and thirty linear was advan- 
 tageously brought to bear upon them. AVhen elongated 
 their bodies were somewhat pear-shaped, but more 
 slender, and variegated with vacuoles and particles of 
 food. The mouths resembled those of Vorticellae, and 
 put forth circles of vibrating cilia. They were easily 
 alarmed, when the cilia were retracted, and down they 
 sank to the bottom of their vases, quickly to rise again. 
 In one bottle there were two living in friendly juxta- 
 position. This was not a case of matrimonial felicity, 
 nor of Siamese twins, but of fission, or reproduction by 
 division. The original inhabitant of the tube finding 
 himself too fat, or impelled by causes we do not under- 
 stand, quietly divided himself in two, and as the house 
 was big enough, no enlargement was required. How 
 many stout puffy gentlemen must envy this process ; 
 how convenient to have two thin lively specimens of 
 humanity made out of one too obese for locomotion. 
 Man is^ however, sometimes the victim of his superior 
 
52 Marvels of Pond- Life, 
 
 organization, and no process of '' fission '^ can make tlie 
 lusty lean."^ 
 
 The bottles in which these creatures live, in happy- 
 ignorance that they are called by so crackjaw a name 
 as Cothurnia imberbis, were described as Carapaces by 
 Ehrenberg, but they bear no resemblance to the shell 
 of a turtle or crab. They are thrown off by the animals 
 who preserve no other connection with them than the 
 attachment at the bottom. 
 
 The Micrographic Dictionary describes the family 
 Ophrydinaas corresponding to Vorticellina with a cara- 
 pace. Stein places them with Vorticellids, &c., amongst 
 his Peritricha, which are characterised by a spiral 
 wreath of cilia round the mouth. 
 
 Towards the end of the month a great number of 
 black pear-shaped bodies (Stentor niger), visible to 
 the naked eye, were conspicuous in some water from 
 the Kentish Town ponds. Upon examination they 
 were found to be filled with granules that were red by 
 reflected, and purple by transmitted light. Each one 
 had a spiral wreath of cilia, with a mouth situated like 
 those of the stentors, hereafter to be described, but none 
 of them became stationary, and in a few days they all 
 disappeared. Stein divides Ehrenberg^s Stentor igneus 
 from S. nio^er : the creature described seems to have 
 agreed with Stein's igneus, which he describes as having 
 blood-red lilac, cinnabar, or brown-red pigment particles, 
 and as much smaller than his S. niger. In the same 
 
 * Balbiani in his ' Reclierches sur les Phenomenes Sexuels des Infu- 
 soires/ speaks of the Vorticellids as the only Infusoria dividing longi- 
 tudinally. In other species such appearances arise from conjunction. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 53 
 
 water were specimens of that singular Rotifer, tlie 
 Salpina, about 1 — loO" long, and furnished with a 
 lorica, or carapace, resembling a three-sided glass 
 box, closed below, and slightly open along the 
 back. At the top of this box were four, and at the 
 bottom three, points or horns, and the creature had 
 one eye and a forked tail. Keeping liim company 
 was another little Rotifer, named after its appearance, 
 Monocerca rattus, the ^One-tailed Rat/ Tliis little 
 animal had green matter in its stomach, which was in 
 constant commotion. I ought to have observed that 
 the Salpina repeatedly thrust out its gizzard, and used 
 it as an external mouth. In the annexed sketch the 
 Salpina is seen in a position that displays the dorsal 
 opening of the carapace.. Its three-cornered shape is 
 only shown by a side view. 
 
 Here we close a brief account of what !March winds 
 brought in their train. The next chai)ter will show the 
 good fortune that attended April showers. 
 
 Salpina rcdunca. 
 
54 Marvels of Pond-Life, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 APRIL. 
 
 The beautiful Floscule — Mode of seeking for Tubicolor Rotifers — Mode 
 of illuminating the Floscule — Difficulty of seeing the transparent 
 tube — Protrusion of long hairs — Lobes — Gizzard — Hairy lobes of 
 Floscule not rotatory organs — Glass troughs — Their construction 
 and use — Movement of globules in lobes of Floscule — Chsetonotus 
 larus — Its mode of swimming — Coleps hirtus — Devourer of dead 
 Entomostraca — Dead Rotifer and Vibriones — Theories of ferment- 
 ation and putrefaction — Euplotes and Stylonichia — Fecundity of 
 Stylonichia. 
 
 EW living creatures deserve so well the appel- 
 lation of ^^ beautiful '* as the Floscularia ornata^ 
 or Beautiful Floscule^ although to contemplate 
 a motionless 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 drawing in his '^ Tenby ^' is executed with that 
 rare combination of scientific accuracy and artistic 
 skill, for which the productions of his pencil are 
 renowned. 
 
 Probably the sketches in several works of authority 
 representing the long cilia as short bristles, are merely 
 copies from old drawings^ from objects imperfectly 
 
. M ! ^h% \ 
 
 
 / 
 
 I'j 
 
 ) 
 
 V.:-' 
 
 r 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life, 
 
 ;jj 
 
 seen under indifferent microscopes, and ])ofore tlie 
 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 efi'ects the capture of 
 one of these exquisite objects, although the first im- 
 pression may not equal previous expectations, as the 
 delicacy of tlie organism is not disclosed by a mode of 
 using the light which answers well enougli for the 
 common infusoria. 
 
 When the Floscules, or other tubicolar Hotifcrs are 
 specially sought for, the best way is to proceed to a 
 pond where slender-leaved water-plants grow, and to 
 examine a few branches at a time in a phial of water 
 with a pocket-lens. They are all large enough to be 
 discerned, if present, in this manner, and as soon as 
 one is found, others may be expected, either in the 
 same or in adjacent parts of the pond, for 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 myriophylluni 
 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 liairs or 
 cilia at its head. This was enough to indicate the 
 nature of the creature, and to show the necessity for a 
 careful management of the light, which being adjusted 
 obliquely, gave quite a new character to the scene. 
 The dirty brown hue disappeared, and was replaced by 
 brilliant colours ; while the hairs, instead of appearing 
 few and short, were found to be extremely numerous. 
 
56 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 very long, and glistening like delicate threads of spun 
 glass. 
 
 Knowing that the Floscules live in transparent 
 gelatinous tubes, such an object was carefully looked 
 for, but in this instance, as is not uncommon, it was 
 perfectly free from extraneous matter, and possessed 
 nearly the same refractive power as the water, so that 
 displaying it to advantage required some little trouble 
 in the way of careful focusing, and many experiments 
 as to the best angle at Avhich 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. Lying aside her in the bottle 
 were three large eggs, and the slightest shock given to 
 the table> induced her to draw back in evident alarm. 
 Immediately afterwards she slowly protruded a dense 
 bunch of the fine long hairs, which quivered in the 
 light, and shone with a delicate bluish-green lustre, 
 here and there varied by opaline tints. 
 
 The hairs were thrust out in a mass, somewhat after 
 the mode in which the old-fashioned telescope hearth- 
 brooms were made to put forth their bristles. As soon 
 as they were completely everted, together with the 
 upper portion of the Floscule, six lobes gradually 
 separated, causing the hairs to fall on all sides in a 
 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. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 57 
 
 and which has never been precisely understood, caused 
 gentle currents to flow towards tlie moutli in the 
 middle of the lobes, and from the motion of the <(izzard, 
 imperfectly seen through the integument, and from the 
 rapid filling of the stomach with particles of all hues, 
 it was plain that captivity had not destroyed the 
 Moscule's appetite, and that the drop of water in tlic 
 live-box contained a good supply of food. 
 
 Sometimes the particles swallowed were too small to 
 be (liscerned, although their aggregate effect was 
 visible ; but often a monad or larger object was in- 
 gulfed, but without any ciliary action being visible to 
 account for the journey they were evidently compelled 
 to perform. The long hairs took no part whatever 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 the lorica, or carapace 
 which we have before described. The general structure 
 of the creature and the nature of its gizzard distinctly 
 marked it out as a member of the family we call 
 ^' Rotifers," but the absence of anytliing like '' wheels" 
 proves that those organs are not essential characteristics 
 of this class. 
 
 Noticeable currents are not always produced when 
 the mouth of this Floscule is fully expanded. On one 
 occasion, one having five lobes was discovered standing 
 at such an angle in a glass trough that the aperture 
 could be looked down into. The position rendered it 
 
58 Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 impossible to use a higher power than about two 
 hundred linear^ but with this^ and the employment of 
 carmine^ nothing like a vortex was seen during a whole 
 evenings 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 o£ the 
 creature, may be one way in which its food is drawn 
 in, but there is no doubt it can produce currents when 
 it thinks proper. Sometimes animalcules in the 
 vicinity of Floscules whirl about as if under the influ- 
 ence of such currents. Some may be seen to enter the 
 space between the lobes, swim about inside, and then 
 get out again, while every now and then one will be 
 sucked in too far for retreat. 
 
 Above the gizzard in the Horned Floscule,"^ I have 
 seen an appearance as if a membrane or curtain was 
 waving to and fro, while another was kept in a fixed 
 
 * The Horned Floscules {F. cornuta) which I have found, and which 
 ored in a glass jar, were not so large as those described by Mr. Dobie, 
 as quoted in 'Pritchard's Infusoria.' Mr. Dobie's specimens were 
 1 — 40''' when extended ; mine about half that size, five-lobed, and with 
 a long slender proboscis, standing in a wavy line outside one lobe. 
 Mr. Dobie also describes an F. campamdata, with five flattened lobes. 
 The ' Micrographic Dictionary ' pronounces these two species " doubt- 
 fully distinct." I have three or four times met with a variety of 
 F. ornata, in which one lobe was much enlarged and flattened, but 
 they had no proboscis. In what I take for F. cornuta, the horn or 
 proboscis has sometimes been a conspicuous object, and at others so fine 
 and transparent as to be only visible in certain lights. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 59 
 
 perpendicular position. Mr. Gosse, spcakinj; of this 
 genus, observes " that the vvliole of tlie 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 diaphraji^m, 
 with a highly contractile and versatile central orifice. 
 At some distance lower down another dia})hragni 
 occurs, and the ample chamber thus enclosed forms a 
 kind of croj:), or receptacle for the captured prey.^' 
 
 " From the ventral side of the ample crop tliat 
 precedes the stomach, there springs in F. ornata a 
 perpendicular membrane or veil, partly extending 
 across the cavity. This is free, 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. At the 
 bottom of this veil, but on the dorsal side, are placed 
 the jaws, consisting of a pair of curved, unjointcd, but 
 free mallei, with a membranous process beneath each." 
 
 The Beautiful Floscule could always be made to 
 repeat the process of retreating into her den, and 
 coming out again to spread her elegant plumes before 
 our eyes, by giving the table a smart knock, and her 
 colours and structure were well exhibited by the dark- 
 ground illumination, which has been explained in a 
 previous page. 
 
 An object like this should be watched at intervals 
 for hours and even days, especially if the eggs arc 
 nearly ready to give up their infantile contents. This 
 was the case with the specimen described, and after a 
 few hours a young Floscule escaped, looking very much 
 
60 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 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 six tiny lobes expanding their 
 tufts of slender hair. Unfortunately its further pro- 
 ceedings were not seen, or it would have been 
 interesting to note the growth of the foot, and the 
 formation of the gelatinous tube, which is probably 
 thrown off in rings. 
 
 To view the details of the structure of a Floscule, it 
 must be placed in a live-box or compressorium, and if 
 specimens are scarce, they should not be allowed to 
 remain in the limited quantity of water those contriv- 
 ances hold, after the observations are concluded, but 
 should be carefully removed, and placed in a little vial, 
 such as homoeopathists use for their medicine. By 
 such means an individual may be kept alive for many 
 days. It is also interesting to place a little branch 
 of the plant occupied by Floscules or similar creatures, 
 in a glass trough, where they may be made quite at 
 home, and their proceedings agreeably watched by a 
 one-inch or two-thirds power. These troughs,^ 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 incon- 
 
 * The shallow cells with thin sliding covers devised hy Llr. Curteis 
 (of Baker's), are still more convenient when no pressure is required, 
 and the objects are small. When not under the microscope they can 
 be kept full of water by immersion in a tumbler. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 61 
 
 venience. Tlie pieces of glass are stuck togctlicr 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 bottom. Then a piece of 
 glass rather shorter than the trough, and rather higher 
 than its front side, is placed so as to slope from the 
 front of the bottom towards the back at the top. The 
 piece of glass first dropped in keeps it in the right 
 position, and the trough is thus made into a V-shaped 
 vessel, wide at the top and gradually narrowing. Any 
 object then placed in it will fall till it fits some part of 
 the Y, where it will remain for observation. A small 
 wedge of cork enables the moveable piece of glass to 
 be thrown forwards, until it assumes any angle, or is 
 brought parallel to the front of the trough. 
 
 A power of five or six hundred diameters generally 
 enables a movement of small globules to be seen at the 
 extremity of the lobes of the Floscule, and the gizzard 
 may be made plain by dissolving the rest of the creature 
 in a drop 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 not be found in adults. 
 When these eyes of Rotifers are not readily conspicuous, 
 they must be sought for by opaque illumination, or by 
 the dark-ground method which, especially with the 
 parabola, is successful in bringing them out. 
 
 Naturalists, and possibly the specimens also, do not 
 
62 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 always agree in the number of lobes assigned to tbe 
 ^' Beautiful Floscule/^ and although it is easy enough 
 to count them in some positions_, the observer may have 
 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 without difficulty 
 or doubt. The hairs also will not appear anything like 
 their true length or number, unless the object glass is 
 good, and great care is taken not to obscure them by a 
 blaze of ill-directed light. 
 
 Cbsetonotus larus (swimming). 
 
 After the Floscules had been sufficiently admired and 
 put aside, for observations to be repeated on future 
 occasions, a Rotifer attracted attention by his merry- 
 andrew pranks, throwing himself in all directions by 
 means of two long and extremely mobile toes attached 
 to his tail-foot. Then came a creature swimming like 
 an otter, thrusting 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 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. G3 
 
 slipper- shaped, the rounded heel forming his head, tlicu 
 narrowing to a waist, and expanding towards the otlicr 
 end, which projected in a fork. All round him were 
 long cilia, which were conspicuous near the head, and a 
 fine line indicated the passage from his mouth to the 
 stomach, which seemed full of granukir matter. Pre- 
 sently he took to crawling, or rather running, over a 
 thread of conferva, and then his back was elegantly 
 arched, and his cilia stood erect like the quills of a 
 porcupine. This was the Chcetonotus lanis. 
 
 wb^^^M^^^SM 
 
 520 
 
 Cba3tonotus larus (crawling). 
 
 In Pritchard's " Infusoria,^^ the views of those writers 
 are followed who rank this animal amongst the Rotifers, 
 and place it in the family IctJddina. To help out this 
 theory, the cilia upon the ventral surface are imagined 
 to form a '^ band-like rotary organ /^ but in truth they 
 bear no resemblance whatever to the so-called wheels of 
 the ordinary Rotifers, nor is there anything like the 
 gizzard which true Rotifers present. Ehrenberg treated 
 it as a Rotifer, and Dujardin placed it among the In- 
 fusoria, in a particular class, comprcluMuliiig sym- 
 metrical organisms. The ' ^licroscopic Dictionary' 
 remarks that its " structure requires further invcstiga- 
 
64 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 tion/^^ 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 
 Dictionary/ varies from 1-710'' to 1-220'', and while 
 its general proceeding may be watched with an inch or 
 two-thirds object glass, and the second eye-piece, a 
 power of five hundred linear (obtained by a quarter or 
 a fifth) is required to make out the details of its struc- 
 ture. If placed in a live-box with threads of conferva, 
 and a little decayed vegetation, it may be observed to 
 group about among them, and shake them like a dog. 
 
 We have said that water-fleas were among the in- 
 habitants of a bottle filled at the pond, and as they go 
 the way of all flesh, it is common to find some odd- 
 looking animalcules ready to devour their mortal 
 remains. These are creatures shaped like beer-barrels, 
 upon short legs, and which swim with a tubby rolling 
 gait. Looking at one of these little tubs lengthwise, a 
 number of lines are seen, as though the edge 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 
 diff'ers from the usual type of Infusoria, by being sym- 
 metrical, 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 
 
 * See a valuable paper by Mr. Gosse, " History of the Hairy-backed 
 Animalcules," ' Intellectual Observer,' vol. v, p. 387, in which the 
 known species are described and reasons given for following Vogt and 
 ranging them with the Turbellarian worms. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life, 
 
 65 
 
 brown. It lias been observed to increase by transverse 
 self-division^ and has two orifices, one at each end, for 
 receiving food and ejecting the remains. It often 
 requires some little trouble to get a good view of the 
 cilia, which are arranged in transverse and longitudinal 
 rows. A power of one hundred and fifty linear is 
 convenient for viewing it in motion, but when quiet 
 under pressure, one of five or six hundred may be used 
 with advantage. 
 
 Coleps hirtus. 
 
 Among the rubbish at the bottom of the bottle, in 
 "which the coleps was found, was a minute dead Kotifer, 
 the flesh of which was fast disappearing, but upon being 
 examined with a power of nine hundred and sixty 
 diameters, 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 smallest were known by a worm-like wrig- 
 gling, although their structure could not be defined. 
 
66 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 These vibriones are probably members of the vegetable 
 world, and they always appear when animal matter 
 undergoes putrefaction. 
 
 M. Pasteur has brought forward elaborate experiments 
 to show that the development of the yeast plant is an 
 act correlative to alcoholic fermentation, and in like 
 manner the growth of vibriones may stand in correlation 
 to putrefactive decomposition. 
 
 Ehrenberg considered them animals, and fancied he 
 
 A, Euplotes (patella) ; B, side view of ditto ; c, stylouichia. 
 
 detected in them a plurality of stomachs; but the 
 vegetable theory is the more probable, at any rate of the 
 species under our notice, which is often seen, though 
 not always so minute. 
 
 At this time two interesting animalcules were very 
 plentiful — the EvpJotes patella, and Stylonichia, both 
 remarkable as exhibiting an advance in organization, 
 which approximates them to the higher animals. In 
 addition to cilia they possess styles, which take the 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life, (j7 
 
 place of the limbs of more elaborately-constructed 
 creatures, and give a variety to their means of locomo- 
 tion. The Enplotes is furnished with an oval carapace 
 covering the upper surface, which in different indivi- 
 duals, and probably at different ages, exhibits slightly 
 varied markings round its margin, which in the specimen 
 drawn above consisted of dots. They can run, climl), 
 or swim, and exemplify a singular habit which several 
 of the infusoria possess, that of moving for a little time 
 in one direction, and then suddenly, and without any 
 apparent cause, reversing it. If the reader is fond 
 of learned appellations, he can call this diastrophy , 
 but we do not know that he will be any the wiser 
 for it. 
 
 The Stylonichia are oval animalcules, surrounded by 
 cilia, and having moreover a collection of styles, both 
 straight and curved, the latter called uncini, or little 
 hooks. They swim steadily on, and then dart back, but 
 not so far as they have advanced, and may be seen to 
 keep up this fidgety motion by the hour together. 
 Pritchard tells us Ehrenberg found that a single ani- 
 malcule 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 animalcule in ten days. Such are the 
 amazing powers of reproduction conferred upon these 
 humble creatures, powers which are fully employed 
 when the surrounding circumstances are favorable, 
 
68 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 and whichj in the aggregate,, change the condition of 
 large masses of matter^ and bring within the circle of 
 life millions upon millions of particles every minute of 
 the day. 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life, 69 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MAY. 
 
 Floscularia cormita— Euchlaiiis triquetra — Melicerta rlngens — its 
 powers as brickmaker, architect, and mason— Mode of viewing the 
 Melicerta— Use of glass-cell — Habits of Melicerta — Curious 
 Attitudes — Leave their tubes at death — Carchesium — Epistylis — 
 Their elegant tree forms — A Parasitic Epistylis like the " Old Man 
 of the Sea " — Halteria and its Leaps — Aspidisca Lynceus. 
 
 AY^ the first of summer months, and of old 
 famous for floral games, which found their 
 latest patrons in the chimney-sweeps of 
 London, is a good time for the microscopist among the 
 ponds, for the increase of warmth and heat favours both 
 animal and vegetable life, and so we found as we car- 
 ried home some tops of myriophyllum, and soon dis- 
 covered a colony of tubicolor rotifers among the tiny 
 branches. They proved to be Floscules, generally 
 resembling the F. ornata, described in a previous page, 
 but having a long slender proboscis hanging like a 
 loose ringlet down one side. The cilia or hairs were 
 not so long as in. the Beautiful Floscules we had before 
 obtained, nor was their manner of opening so elegant ; 
 but they were, nevertheless, objects of great interest, 
 and were probably specimens of the Floscularia cornuta. 
 A swimming rotifer in a carapace somewhat fiddle- 
 
70 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 shaped, witli one eye in its forehead, and a two-pronged 
 tail sticking out behind (the Euchlanis triquetrd), also 
 served to occupy attention ; but a further search among 
 the myriophyllum revealed more treasures of the tube- 
 dwelling kind. These were specimens of that highly 
 curious Rotifer, the Melicerta ringens, who, not con- 
 tent with dwelling, like the Floscules, in a gelatinous 
 bottle, is at once brick maker, mason, and architect, 
 and fabricates as pretty a tower as it is easy to con- 
 ceive. The creature itself stands upon a retractile foot- 
 stalk, and thrusts out above its battlements a large 
 head, with four leaf-like expansions surrounded by 
 cilia. Between the lower lobes, or leaves, the gizzard 
 is seen grinding away, and above it is an organ, not 
 always displayed, and of which Mr. Gosse was fortunate 
 enough to discover the use. This eminent naturalist 
 likens it to the circular ventilator sometimes inserted 
 in windows, and he found it was the machine for 
 making the yellow ornamental bricks of which the 
 tower is composed. Pellet by pellet, or brick by brick, 
 does the Melicerta build her house, which widens 
 gradually from the foundation to the summit^ and every 
 layer is placed with admirable regularity. 
 
 In order to obtain the materials for her brickmaking 
 the Melicerta must have the power of modifying the 
 direction of the ciliary currents, so as to throw a stream 
 of small particles into the mould, which is a muscular 
 organ, and capable of secreting a waterproof cement, by 
 which they are fastened together. The result is, not to 
 produce anything like the tubes made by the caddis- 
 worms out of grains of sand, but entirely to change 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life, 7 1 
 
 the appearance of the materials employed. All large 
 particles are rejected^ and only those retained which 
 will form a homogeneous pulp with the viscid secretion ; 
 and when the process is complete the head of the crea- 
 ture is bent down, and the pellet deposited in its appro- 
 priate place. Each pellet appears originally to possess 
 a more or less conical figure, but when they are 
 squeezed together to make a compact wall they all tend 
 to a hexagonal form, by which they are able to touch 
 at all points, and any holes or interstices are avoided. 
 
 According to Professor Williamson the young 
 Melicerta commences her house by secreting " a thin 
 hyaline cylinder,^' and the first row of pellets are 
 deposited, not at the base as would be expected, but in 
 a ring about the middle of the tube. '^ At first new 
 additions are made to both extremities of the enlarging 
 ring; but the jerking constrictions of the animal at 
 length force the caudal end of the cylinder down upon 
 the leaf, to which it becomes securely cemented by the 
 same viscous secretion as causes the little spheres to 
 cohere/^ 
 
 Kound the margins of the lobes or expansions may 
 be seen delicate threads towards which others radiate ; 
 these are thought by Mr. Gosse to be portions of a 
 nervous system, and two calcars or feelers serve as 
 organs of relation. The young Melicertas are likewise 
 furnished with a pair of eyes, which are probably 
 rudimentary, and disappear as they grow up. 
 
 The Melicerta tubes, being large enough to be visi- 
 ble to the naked eye, are easily crushed in the live- 
 boX; and to avoid this, they are conveniently viewed in a 
 
72 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 shallow glass cell, covered up as before described. By 
 occasionaUy changing the water one may be kept for 
 days in the same cell, and will reward the pains by fre- 
 quently exposing its flower-like head. Usually the 
 horns or feelers come out first, and then a lump of flesh. 
 After this, if all seems right, the wheels appear, and 
 make a fine whirlpool, as may be readily seen by the 
 use of a little indigo or carmine. 
 
 The Melicerta is, however, an awkward object to 
 undertake to show to our friends, for as they knock at 
 the door she is apt to turn sulky, and when once in this 
 mood it is impossible to say when her fair form will 
 reappear. At times the head is wagged about in all 
 directions with considerable vehemence, playing singu- 
 lar antics, and distorting her lobes so as to exhibit a 
 Punch and Judy profile. When these creatures die 
 they leave their tubes, which are often found empty in 
 the ponds they frequent. The Melicertas are con- 
 veniently viewed with a power of from sixty to one 
 hundred linear, and a colony of them may be kept alive 
 for some weeks in a glass jar or tank. 
 
 Among the remainder of my tiny captives were two 
 beautiful members of the Vorticella family, Epistylis 
 and Carchesium. The reader will remember that in 
 the Vorticella previously described, the bells stood upon 
 stalks that were very flexible, and retractile by means 
 of a muscle running down their length. The Epistylis 
 is, as its name imports, the dweller on di, pillar. The 
 stem is stiflF, or only slightly flexible, and has no aj^pa- 
 ratus by which it can be drawn down. The specimen 
 mentioned stood like a palm-tree, and the large oval 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 73 
 
 bells drooped elegantly on all sides, as its portrait will 
 show. At times they nodded with a rapid jerk. 
 
 The Carchesium differs from the common Vorticella, 
 by branching like a tree, but the stems are all retrac- 
 tile, although the trunk seldom exercises the power. 
 A group of these creatures presents a spectacle of extra- 
 
 Epistylis. 
 
 ordinary beauty — it looks like a tree from fairy-land, 
 in which every leaf has a sentient life. In general 
 structure the bells of the Epistylis and the Carchesium 
 resemble the common Vorticella, and like them may be 
 seen with a power of about one hundred linear for 
 general effect, and with a higher one for the cxamina- 
 
74 Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 tion of special points. Pritchard notices three species 
 of CarchesiuMj and eighteen of Epistylis ;^ some of 
 which it is to be hoped will turn out to be only varie- 
 ties. 
 
 Towards the end of this month rotifers abounded, and 
 polyps were plentiful. Among the rotifers was one 
 about a two-hundredth of an inch long, protected by a 
 carapace, and having a tail terminating in a single style, 
 hence called " Monostyle." There is perhaps no class 
 of creatures that present so many curious and unex- 
 pected forms as the rotifers; and although we have 
 noticed a good many, there are far more that remmn to 
 be found and described. 
 
 The water in which the preceding animals dwelt was 
 enlivened by the jumps of the Halteria, a little globe 
 surrounded by long fine cilia, with which its movements 
 were effected ; and its companion was the Aspidisca 
 lynceus, an oval animalcule, having a distinct cilia or 
 lorica, and furnished, in addition to cilia, with bristles, 
 which enable it to walk and climb as well as swim. 
 
 There were also some eors^s of rotifers attached to the 
 water plants, in which motion could be descried at inter- 
 vals, and a little red eye observed. These eggs are 
 always large in proportion to the creatures that 
 lay them, and if they escape being devoured by 
 
 * An interesting Epistylis, called Digitalis, from its bells resembling 
 fox-glove flowers iu shape, occurs as a parasite upon the Cjclops quadri- 
 cornis, a very common entomostracan in fresh-water ponds. At this 
 moment I have a beautiful specimen, branching like a bushy tree, and 
 attached to the tail of a Cyclops, who can scarcely move under his 
 burden, which is like Sinbad's " Old Man of the Sea." 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 75 
 
 enemiesj may be watched until their contents step 
 forth. 
 
 In this, as in other months, omission is made of 
 creatures that have ah'eady come under notice, or our 
 list would assume larger dimensions. 
 
76 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 JUNE AND JULY. 
 
 Lindia Torulosa— (Ecistes Crystalllnus — A professor of deportment on 
 stilts — Philodina — Changes of form and habits — Structure of 
 Gizzard in Philodina family — Mr. Gosse's description — Motions of 
 Rotifers — Indications of a will — Remarks on the motions of lower 
 creatures — Various theories — Possibility of reason — Reflex actions 
 Brain of insects— Consensual actions — Applications of physiological 
 reasoning to the movements of Rotifers and Animalcules. 
 
 PRESSUEE of otlier occupations prevented 
 full use being made of June and July, nor 
 was the weather at all propitious. For this 
 reason the microscopic doings of these two months are 
 recorded in one chapter. 
 
 As usual the Kentish Town ponds were productive 
 of objects, and among them were several rotifers not 
 found in the previous months. The first of these was a 
 very small worm-like thing, with one eye, a tuft of cilia 
 about the mouth, and two toes at the tail end. Had it 
 not been for the jaws, which were working like fingers 
 thrust against each other, and which were unmistakably 
 of the rotifer pattern, the animal might have been 
 supposed to belong to some other class. According to 
 the ^ Micrographic Dictionary,^ the Lindia torulosa is 
 1-75'' long, but this specimen was only about 1-200''. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 17 
 
 It was possibly very young, and did not thrust out its 
 cilia in two distinct tufts^ as Colin describes, although 
 it may have had the power of doing so. At times it 
 sprang quickly backwards and forwards, bringing its 
 head where its tail was before. This object required for 
 its comfortable elucidation a power of about six hundred 
 linear. 
 
 (Ecistes crjstallinus. 
 
 Among the common water-plants, which are worth 
 examining as the probable abodes of rotifers or in- 
 fusoria, is the pretty little thing called ^^ star-weed," 
 some of which was obtained from the last-mentioned 
 
78 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 ponds, and on examination yielded a specimen of a 
 tube- dwelling rotifer, the (Ecistes crystallinus, which, 
 although less beautiful than the Floscules or the 
 Melicerta, is, nevertheless, a pretty and interesting 
 object. In this instance a little rough dirty tube, about 
 1 — 70" long, was observed to contain an animal capable 
 of rising up and expanding a round mouth garnished 
 with a wreath of cilia ; while a little below, the inde- 
 fatigable and characteristic gizzard of the tribe was in 
 full play. A power of two hundred and forty linear 
 sufficed to afford a good view, and it was seen that a 
 long, irregular, conical body was supported upon a short 
 wrinkled stalk. The usual drawings represent this 
 creature with a short bell-shaped body upon a very long 
 slender pedicle. Possibly this one might have been able 
 to show himself under this guise, but he did not attempt 
 it ; his appearance being always pretty much as de- 
 scribed, which made the foot shorter and the body 
 longer than the measurements which naturalists have 
 given, and according to which the whole creature is 
 1—36" long, although the body is only 1—140''. The 
 tube of the (Ecistes is called a ^' lorica,^^ or carapace ; 
 but it has in truth no right whatever to the appel- 
 lation. 
 
 Another strange rotifer, of whose name I am un- 
 certain, had an ovalish oblong body, and a pair of legs 
 like compasses, twice as long as himself. His antics 
 were those of a posture-master, or " Professor of De- 
 portment " on stilts. Sometimes he stood bolt upright, 
 bringing his legs close together; then they were jauntily 
 crossed, and the body carried horizontally; then the 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 79 
 
 two legs would be slightly opened, and the body thrown 
 exactly at right-angles to them. These antics were 
 repeated all the while the observation lasted, and liad a 
 very funny effect in proving that drollery is practised, 
 if not understood, in the rotator ial world. 
 
 Another kind of rotifer was abundant — the Philodlna, 
 which belongs to the same family as the common wheel - 
 bearer, namelv, the Philodincea. The Philodina is a 
 good deal like the common wheel-bearer, or Rotifer 
 
 Philodina (swimming). 
 
 vulgaris, but is usually of a stouter build, and carries 
 his eyes in a different place. In the common rotifer 
 these organs are situated on the proboscis, while those 
 of the Philodina are lower, and said to be " cervical.'' 
 The changes of form in this rotifer arc still more 
 remarkable than in the common wheel-bearer. ^Vhen 
 resting it resembles a pear-shaped purse, puckered in at 
 the mouth. Then it thrusts out its tail-foot, swells its 
 body to an oval globe, protrudes its feeler, and slightly 
 
80 Marvels of Pond-Life, 
 
 exposes a row of cilia. After this two distinct wheels 
 are everted, and as their cilia whirl and spin, the animal 
 is swiftly rowed along, until it thinks proper to moor 
 itself fast by the tail-foot, and employ all its ciliary 
 power in causing currents to converge towards its 
 throat. When it pleases it can elongate the body, till 
 it becomes vermiform, and it walks like the common 
 rotifer, by curving its back, and bringing its nose and 
 its tail in contact with the ground. 
 
 Philodlna (crawling). 
 
 The gizzard of this family {Philodincea) presents a 
 considerable deviation from the perfect form exhibited 
 by the Brachions. According to Mr. Gosse, " The 
 mallei and the incus (terms already explained) are 
 soldered together into two subquadrantic-globular 
 masses, which appear to be muscular, but invested with 
 a solid integument. The manubria (handles) may still 
 be recognised in a vertical aspect as three loops, of 
 which the central one is chiefly developed, and in a 
 vertical aspect as a translucent reniform (kidney-shaped) 
 globe." These descriptions are not easy to understand. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 81 
 
 not from any want of clearness or precision in the words 
 employed, but from the complicated character of the 
 organ, and its very different appearance under different 
 aspects. To make the matter more intelligible, ]\Ir. 
 Gosse adds, " the structure and action of an apparatus 
 of this type may be made more clear by a homely illus- 
 tration. Suppose an apple to be divided longitudinally, 
 leaving the stalk attached to one half. Let this now 
 be split again longitudinally so far as the stalk, but not 
 actually separating either portion from it. Draw the 
 two portions slightly apart, and lay them down on their 
 rounded surfaces. They now represent the quadrantic 
 masses in repose, the stalk being the fulcrum, and the 
 upper surfaces being crossed by the teeth. By the 
 contraction of the muscles, of which they are composed, 
 the two segments are made to turn upon their long axis, 
 until the points of the teeth are brought into contact, 
 and the toothed surfaces rise and approach each other. 
 The lower edges do not, however, separate as the upper 
 edges approach, but the form of the mass alters, becom- 
 ing more lenticular, so that when the toothed surfaces 
 are brought into their closest approximation, the outline 
 has a subcircular figure. It is on account of this change 
 of form that I presume the masses themselves to be 
 partially composed of muscle.^' 
 
 These remarks, although specially made of the Rotifer 
 macruruSy are in the main applicable to all the Pliilo- 
 dinas, but the student must not expect to understand 
 any of the complicated gizzards of the rotifers without 
 repeated observations, and no small exercise of patience. 
 It is common to call the portions of the Philodiuc- 
 
 6 
 
82 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 pattern gizzard "stirrup-shaped," but Mr. Gosse has 
 shown them to be quadrantiCj that is, shaped like the 
 quarter of a sphere. 
 
 As we are not very well off with subjects for descrip- 
 tion in these two months, we can afford a little time to 
 consider a question that continually arises in the mind, 
 on viewing the movements of animalcules, and especially 
 of any so highly developed as the rotifers, namely, to 
 what extent motions which appear intelligent are really 
 the result of anything like a conscious purpose or will. 
 When any of the lower animals — a bee, for example — 
 acts in precisely the same way as all bees have acted 
 since their proceedings have been observed, we settle 
 the question by the use of the term instinct. Those who 
 take the lowest view of insect life, assume that the bee 
 flies because it has wings, but without wishing to use 
 them, and that the nerves exciting them to action are 
 in their turn excited, not by volition, but by some 
 physical stimulus. 
 
 The sight or the smell of flowers is thought by the 
 same reasoners to be capable of attracting the insect, 
 which is unconscious of the attraction, while proximity 
 of food stimulates the tongue to make the movements 
 needful for its acquisition, and so forth. The cells, 
 they tell us, are built according to a pattern which the 
 earliest bee was impelled to construct by forces that 
 bear no analogy to human reason and human will, and 
 so originate all the ordinary processes of bee life. Some- 
 times, however, it happens that man or accident inter- 
 poses particular obstacles, and forthwith there appears 
 a particular modification of the orthodox plan, calcu- 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 83 
 
 lated to meet the special difficulty. IIow is tliis ? Does 
 any one of the difficulties which the bee or the ant is 
 able to get over, produce precisely that kind of electrical 
 disturbance, or polar arrangement of nerve particles 
 that is necessary to stimulate the first step of the action 
 by which the difficulty is surmounted ; and does the 
 new condition thus established stimulate the second 
 step, and so forth, or can the bee, within certain limits, 
 really think, design, and contrive ? 
 
 No questions are more difficult of solution ; but 
 while protesting against a tendency to undervalue all 
 life below that of man, we must remember we have in 
 our bodies processes going on which are not the result 
 of volition, as when the blood circulates, and its 
 particles arrange themselves in the pattern required to 
 form our tissues and organs, and also that many of our 
 actions belong to the class termed by physiologists, 
 "reflex,^' that is, the result of external impressions upon 
 the nervous system, in which the sentient brain takes no 
 part. Thus when a strong light stimulates the optic 
 nerve, the portion of brain with which it is connected 
 in its turn stimulates the iris to contract the pupil ; 
 and it is supposed that after a man has begun to walk, 
 through the exercise of his will^ he may continue to 
 walk, by a reflex action ; as his feet press the ground 
 they transmit an /impression to the spinal cord, and the 
 legs receive a fresh impulse to locomotion, although the 
 mind is completely occupied with other business, and pays 
 no attention to their proceedings.* The ordinary move- 
 
 * See Carpenter's * ]\Ianual of Physiology.' 
 
84 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 ments of insects appear to be of this character, and 
 to be excited by the ganglia belonging to the 
 segment to which the moving limbs are attached. 
 Thus a centipede will run, after its head has been cut 
 off, and a water-beetle {Dytiscus) swam energetically 
 when thrown into water after its brain has been 
 removed.^ 
 
 It must not, however, be assumed that the brain of 
 insects has nothing to do with their movements. It is 
 probably the means of co-ordinating or directing them 
 to a common end, and gives rise to what are called 
 consensual movements, that is, movements which are 
 accompanied or stimulated by a sensation, although 
 not controlled by a will. In man these actions are 
 frequently exhibited, " as when laughter is provoked 
 by some ludicrous sight or sound, or by the remem- 
 brance of such at an unseasonable hour.^f Sneezing 
 is another instance of a sensation leading to certain 
 motions, without any intervention of the human will. 
 
 Speaking of these consensual motions, Dr. Carpenter 
 observes, " It is probable, from the strong manifesta- 
 tions of emotion, exhibited by many of the lower 
 animals, that some of the actions which we assemble 
 under the general designation of instinctive are to be 
 referred to this group/' 
 
 The insect brain is composed of a supra-cesophagal 
 ganglion and infra-oesophagal one. Von Siebold says, 
 the first corresponds to the cerebrum of the vertebrata, 
 and " the second is comparable, perhaps, to the cere- 
 
 * Carpenter's * Manual of Physiology,' p. 551. 
 t Ibidi, p. 543. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 85 
 
 bellum or spinal cord/'* The superior jj^anirlion j^ivcs 
 off nerves to the antennae and eves, tlic lower one to the 
 mandibles, &e. So far as is known the insects tliat 
 exhibit the most intelligence have the largest and best 
 developed brains. 
 
 A special volume would be required for anything like 
 a complete examination of the little which is known on 
 this subject, but these few remarks may assist the 
 microscopic beginner iu examining the movements of 
 his subjects, and guard against the error of referring to 
 reason and volition those which are, probably, either the 
 direct result of stimulants applied to the surface (as in 
 nerveless creatures), or the indirect (reflex) result of 
 such stimulants in beings like the rotifers, who have a 
 nervous system ; or the result of sensations j which 
 excite actions without previously referring the matter 
 to the decision of a will. It must not, however, be 
 too readily assumed that the behaviour of creatures 
 possessing distinct organs is entirely automatic; and 
 we must not forget that even the best physiologists 
 know very little concerning the range of functions 
 which the nervous ganglia of the invertebrata are able 
 to discharge. 
 
 * ( 
 
 Anatomy of Invertebrates/ Burnett's trans. 
 
 o^ggJ'CL o 
 
86 Marvels of Pond-Life, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AUGUST. 
 
 Mud coloured by worms — Their retreat at alarm — A country duck- 
 pond — Contents of its scum — Cryptomonads — Their means of 
 locomotion — A Triarthra (three-limbed Rotifer) — The Brachion or 
 Pitcher Rotifer — Its striking form — Enormous gizzard — Ciliary 
 motion inside this creature — Large eye and brain — Powerful tail 
 — Its functions — Eggs. 
 
 N the beginning of this month a pond in the 
 Finchley Hoad, a little beyond the Highgate 
 Archway, supplied some more specimens of 
 the Pterodina patina, described in a previous chapter ; 
 but towards the middle of the month a visit to 
 Chipstead, in Surrey, enabled a new region to be 
 explored. 
 
 It is always a treat to a Londoner to get down to 
 any of the picturesque parts of Surrey ; the trees 
 exhibit a richness of foliage and variety of colour not 
 seen within the regions of metropolitan smoke ; the 
 distance glows with the rich purples so much admired 
 in the pictures of Linnel, and the sunsets light up earth 
 and sky with the golden tilits he is so well able to 
 reproduce. Probably the warmth of the soil, and the 
 purity of the air, may make Surrey ponds prolific in 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life, 87 
 
 microscopic life; but of this wo do not know enough to 
 make a fair comparison, although our own dips into 
 them were tolerably lucky. 
 
 Walking one day down a lane leading towards 
 Reigate, where the trees arched overhead, ferns grew 
 plentifully in the sandy banks, and the sunlight flitted 
 through the branches, and chequered the path, we came 
 to a shallow pond, or great puddle, which crossed the 
 way, and near the edge of the water the eye was struck 
 with patches of crimson colour. On attempting to 
 take up a portion of one of these patches the whole 
 disappeared, although when the disturbance ceased 
 the rich colour again clothed the dingy mud. The 
 appearance was caused by thousands of little worms, 
 belonging to the genus Tubifex, not uncommon in 
 such situations, who thrust themselves out to enjoy the 
 light and air, and retreat the moment an alarm is 
 given. Probably both actions belong to the class 
 described in the last chapter, as '^^ reflex;^' but it would 
 be interesting to know whether creatures so humble 
 have any sense of fear. These worms will repay obser- 
 vation, but in these pages we eschew all their tribe — 
 unless the rotifers be assigned to them — and take our- 
 selves once more to our especial subjects. 
 
 Knowing that farm-ponds are usually well stocked 
 with microscopic game, we made a dip into one more 
 especially assigned to ducks, and obtained wondrous 
 little for our pains. "VVe were not, however, discou- 
 rasred, but made an examination of the circumstances, 
 which determined a particular course of action. Our 
 piece of water was simply a dirty duck-pond, in which 
 
88 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 no large plants wer^ growing, and which did not even 
 exhibit the little disks of duckweed that are common 
 to such situations. There was, however, on the surface, 
 in parts, an exceedingly fine scum of pale yellow green, 
 and this, armed with a teaspoon, we proceeded to 
 attack. By careful skimming, a small bottle was half- 
 filled with minute organic particles, which were likely 
 
 200 
 
 Cryptomonad — Euglena. 
 
 to be interesting in themselves, and pretty sure to be 
 the food for something else. A small drop was placed 
 on a tablet of the live-box, flattened out by the applica- 
 tion of the cover, and viewed with a power of two 
 hundred linear, which disclosed swarms of brilliant 
 green globes, amongst which were a good sprinkle of 
 minute creatures, like the Euglence already described. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Lifc. 8D 
 
 and whose little red eyes contrasted vividly with the 
 prevailing emerald hue. 
 
 One of the higher infusoria, whose species I could 
 not identify, was devouring them like a porpoise 
 among sprats. It did not, however, exhibit any sense 
 in its hungry career ; it moved about in all directions, 
 gulping down what came in its way, l)ut often per- 
 mitting the escape of the little green tilings that were 
 almost in its mouth. The little globes rolled and 
 
 720 
 Cryptoniouad. 
 
 whirled about without the faintest indication of a 
 purpose, and without exhibiting any instrument with 
 which their locomotion was effected. To find out how 
 this was done, a higher power was used, and from their 
 extreme minuteness an amplification of seven hundred 
 and twenty linear was conveniently employed, although 
 a lower one (three or four hundred) disclosed the secret 
 by showing that a little whip was flourished about 
 through the neck, which the lower power revealed. 
 When highly magnified, eacli little globe was seen to 
 consist of an outer case of a reddish orange colour. 
 
90 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 whicli was noticeable on looking at the edges, altliougli 
 in l^lie centre it was transparent eaough to show the 
 brilliant green contents, that resembled the chlorophyl, 
 or green colouring matter of plants. From a short 
 neck proceeded the whip-like filament, which was 
 lashed and twisted about in all directions. These little 
 creatures belong to the monad family, but whether they 
 are to be called Trachelomonads, or by some other hard 
 name, the learned must decide. 
 
 The ^ Micrographic Dictionary ' puts a note of 
 interrogation to the assertion of some writers that 
 Trachelomonads have no necks, and draws some with 
 such an appendage. 
 
 Pritchard^s last edition is against necks, and whether 
 the necks or no necks are to win, is a mighty question 
 equal at least to the famous controversy, which divided 
 the world into ^* big and little endians in the matter 
 of breaking eggs."*^ 
 
 A discussion of more importance is, whether these 
 Cryptomonads — that name will do whatever comes of 
 the neck controversy — are animals or vegetables. 
 Lachmann and Mr. Carter affirm that thev have 
 detected a contractile vesicle, which would assimulate 
 them to the animal series, but their general behaviour 
 is vegetable ; and the ' Micrographic Dictionary ' is in 
 favour of referring them to the Algce — that great family 
 of simple plants, of which the sea-weeds are the most 
 important representatives. 
 
 When any of the monads swarm, there are sure to 
 be plenty of other creatures to eat them up, and in 
 this instance the predaceous animalcule^ already 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 91 
 
 described, was not the only enemy the little ^yccw 
 globes had to suffer from, as two sorts of rotifer were 
 frequently met with. One of these was a very hand- 
 some and singular creature, which in some positions 
 had the general contour of a cockatoo, only that the 
 legs were wanting, and the head exhibited a monkey 
 face. The "wheels" were represented by ciliary tufts, 
 
 Triarthra. 
 
 and two bright red eyes twinkled with a knowing look. 
 From each shoulder proceeded a long curved spine, and 
 about two thirds down the bodv, and Ivinor between 
 the two long spines, a shorter one was articulated, 
 which followed the same curve. A gizzard was busy in 
 the breast, and the body terminated in two short toes, 
 which grasped a large round e^^. Whenever the cilia 
 were drawn in, the three spines were thrown up ; but 
 they had an independent motion of their own, and 
 every now and then were jerked suddenly and violently 
 
92 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 backj which occasioned a rapid diange in the creature's 
 position. The gizzard appeared to consist of two 
 rounded masses, having several ridges of teeth, which 
 worked against each other something like the promi- 
 nences of a coflPee-mill. From the three spines, this 
 animal was a Triarthra, or Three-limbed Rotifer, but 
 the position of the spines, and the toes, made it differ 
 from any species described in the ' Micrographic 
 Dictionary,' or in Pritchard. 
 
 Whether or not this species is to be regarded as 
 having a lorica or not, must depend upon the precise 
 meaning attached to that word. At any rate the 
 integument was much firmer than in many of the 
 rotifers, and gave an efficient support to the spines 
 which a mere skin could not do. As Mr. Gosse 
 remarks of an allied genus, the Polyarthra, or Many- 
 limbed Rotifer, this creature could not be investigated 
 without coming to the conclusion ^' Here again we have 
 true jointed limbs/' a fact of great importance in 
 determining the zoological rank of the family, and in 
 supporting Mr. Gosse's view some at least bore a strong 
 affinity with the group of Arthropoda, of which the 
 insects are the principal representatives. 
 
 Another rotifer of even greater interest, which was 
 busy among the Cryptomonads, was the Brachion, or 
 ''^ Pitcher Rotifer '^ (Brachionus). The members of 
 this genus will frequently reward the searcher into 
 pond-life. Their main characteristic is a cup or pitcher- 
 shaped lorica, which is cut or notched at the top into 
 several horns or projections, the number of which 
 indicates the species ; while two or more similar 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 93 
 
 projections ornament the bottom. This lorica is like 
 the shell of a tortoise open at both ends ; from the top 
 an extremely beautiful wreath of cilia is protruded, and 
 
 S40 
 
 Brachionus ui'ceolaris. 
 
 This drawing ,lias been accidentally reversed by the engraver, 
 which alters the relative place of the internal organs. 
 
 also some longer and stiff cilia, or slender spines, which 
 do not exhibit the rotatory movement. The ciliary 
 
94 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 apparatus is in reality continuous, but it more often 
 presents the appearance of several divisions, and the 
 lateral cilia frequently hang over the sides. From the 
 large size of each cilium they are very favorable 
 creatures for exhibiting the real nature of the action, 
 which gives rise to the rotatory appearance, and which 
 can be easier studied than described. Bv movements, 
 partly from their base, and partly arising from the 
 flexibility of their structure, the cilia come alternately 
 in and out of view, and when set in a circular pattern, 
 the effect is amazingly like the spinning round of a wheel. 
 The internal arrangements of the Brachiones are finely 
 displayed, and they have a most aldermanic allowance 
 of gizzard, which extends more than half way across 
 each side of the median line, and shows all the portions 
 described by Mr. Gosse. As the joints of this machine 
 move, and the teetb are brought together, one could 
 fancy a sound of mill-work was heard, and the observer 
 is fully impressed with a sense of mechanical power. 
 
 When the creature is obliging enough to present a 
 full front view, her domestic economy is excellently 
 displayed. The prey that is caught in her whirlpool is 
 carried down by a strong ciliary current to the gizzard, 
 which may be often seen grappling with objects that 
 appear much too big for its grasp ; and Mr. Gosse was 
 lucky in witnessing an attempt to chew up a morsel 
 that did actually prove too large and too tough, and 
 which, after many ineffectual efforts, was suddenly cast 
 out. As soon as food has passed the gizzard, it is 
 assisted in its journey by more ciliary currents, which 
 are noticeable in the capacious stomach, in the neigh- 
 
Marvels of PoJid-Life. 95 
 
 bourhood of which the secretlnj^ and other vessels are 
 readily observed. Just over the gizzard blazes a great 
 red eye, of a square or oblong form, and it reposes 
 upon a large mass of soft granular-looking brain, 
 which well justifies Mr. Gosse^s epithet " enormous.'^ 
 Whether this brain is highly organized enough to be a 
 thinkmg apparatus, we do not know, but it is evidently 
 the cause of a very vigorous and consentaneous action 
 of the various organs the Brachion possesses. 
 
 A description of the Brachion would be very in- 
 complete if it omitted that important organ the tail, 
 which in this family reaches the highest point of 
 development. It is a powerful muscular organ, of 
 great size in proportion to the animal, capable of com- 
 plete retraction within the carapace, and of being 
 everted wholly, or partially, at will. It terminates in 
 two short conical toes, protruded from a tube-like 
 sheath, and capable of adhering firmly even to a sub- 
 stance so slippery as glass. This tail may be observed 
 to indicate a variety of emotions, if we can ascribe 
 such feelings to a rotifer, and it answers many purposes. 
 Now we see it cautiously thrust forth, and turned this 
 way and that, exploring like an elephant's trunk, and 
 almost as flexible. Now it seizes firm hold of some 
 substance, and anchors its proprietor hard and fast. A 
 few moments afterwards it lashes out right and left 
 with fury, like the tail of a cat in a passion. Then 
 again it will be retracted, and a casual observer might 
 not imagine the Brachion to be furnished with such a 
 terminal implement. 
 
 The Brachiones may often be seen with one or more 
 
96 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 large eggs stuck about the upper part of tlie tail, and 
 others may be discerned inside. One specimen before 
 us has three eggs attached to her in this way. They 
 are large oval bodies, with a firm shell. These 
 creatures differ very much in appearance, according to 
 the direction in which they are seen, and a side view 
 makes them look so different from a full front or back 
 aspect, that it would be easy to suppose another animal 
 was under observation. The extent to which the 
 ciliary apparatus is protruded, and the pattern it forms 
 likewise difiers continually; and hence no drawing, 
 however correct, is sure to resemble the arrangement 
 that may be presented to the observer's eye. But 
 however our little ^^ Pitcher '' may be viewed, it is sure 
 to prove a spectacle of interest and delight. 
 
 ' — -^s>^^^^^v^^ 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life, 97 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 Microscopic value of little pools — Curious facts in appearance and 
 disappearance of Animalcules and Rotifers — Mode of preserving 
 them in a glass jar — Fragments of Melicerta tube — Peculiar shape 
 of Pellets — Amphileptus — Scaridium Longicaudura — A long-tailed 
 Rotifer — Stephonoceros Eichornii — A splendid Rotifer — Its gela- 
 tinous bottle — Its crown of tentacles — Retreats on alarm — Illumi- 
 nation requisite to see its beauties — Its greediness — Richl)' -coloured 
 Food — Nervous ganglia. 
 
 CATTERED about Hampstead Heath are a 
 number of little pools^ not big enough to be 
 dignified by the name of ponds. They are 
 generally surrounded by furze bushes, and would escape 
 attention if not actually looked for. Those which are 
 mere puddles, and have only a brief existence in rainy 
 weather, seldom reward the labour of investigation ; 
 but others are permanent, except after prolonged 
 drought, and afford convenient situations for the 
 growth of confervse, star- weed, and other plants. These 
 will nearly always repay the microscopic collector 
 during the winter, when he must break the ice to get 
 at their contents; in spring, when long chains of frog- 
 spawn afford ocular evidence of the prolific properties 
 
 7 
 
98 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 of the Batracliian reptiles ; and in summer, when they 
 afford both shade and sunshine to their numerous 
 inhabitants. Small beetles, water-spiders, larvse of 
 gnats_, and other insects, rotifers, including the tubi- 
 colar sorts, and several varieties of infusoria may be 
 expected and generally found. There is, however, a 
 curious fact about ponds, big and little, which Prit- 
 chard remarks upon in his ' Infusoria,' and which 
 corresponds with our own experience, that those which 
 have proved to be well stocked with any particular 
 creature during one year, will very likely contain none 
 of it in the next. There are of course exceptions to 
 this rule, but we have often been astonished and dis- 
 appointed at finding the complete change, both in 
 populousness and population, that a revolution of 
 twelve months will make ; and it would be extremely 
 interesting to notice the changes that took place during 
 a term of years. 
 
 Such researches might unfold some unexpected laws 
 in the succession of infusorial life. Those germs which 
 are most widely diffused, will be the most likely to be 
 developed in any mass of convenient water; but how 
 and why the rarer forms come and go is very imper- 
 fectly understood. Slight modifications in surrounding 
 circumstances will materially affect the result. Thus, 
 if we bring home a handful of conferva, and a few 
 water-plants of higher organisation, such as duck-weed 
 and anacharis, and place the whole in a glass jar full 
 of pond- water, we shall at first have a good stock of 
 objects ; but they will usually grow less and less, until 
 scarcely anything is left. If, however, we introduce a 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 99 
 
 few pieces of straw, or a tiny wisp of hay, we sliall 
 succeed much better, and not only preserve our popuLi- 
 tion longer, but enjoy a succession of animated crops. 
 Extensive decomposition of vegetable matter kills off 
 all but certain families, such as Paramccia, who enjoy 
 it; on the other hand, too little decomposition proves 
 fatal to some creatures, by depriving them of their food, 
 and when they have died off, those who depended upon 
 them for a living, die too. Different vegetables in 
 decomposition suit different creatures, and hay and 
 straw in that state seem to please the largest number. 
 An animalcule tank will succeed best when it contains 
 two or three kinds of growing plants, which oxygenize 
 the air, and a moderate variety of decomposing or- 
 ganisms will supply food without making the water 
 offensive. 
 
 From these considerations it will be apparent that 
 not only the nature of the vegetation of a pond, which 
 is often changed by accidental circumstances, but also 
 the quality of the odds and ends that the winds may 
 blow into it, or which may fall through the air, will do 
 much to determine the character and number of its 
 inhabitants, while the quantity of shade or sunshine it 
 enjoys, will also exercise an important influence. Hay 
 and other infusions have from the beginning of micro- 
 scopic investigations been employed to obtain the 
 creatures which the Germans call "Infusions thier- 
 chen^' (infusion animalcules), and the English "Infu- 
 soria ;" but very little has yet been done in the way of 
 their scientific culture and management. 
 
 To return from this digression to our little Ilamp- 
 
100 Marvels of Pond-Life, 
 
 stead ponds, we obtained from one, in September, that 
 was full of star- weed, a number of sugar-loaf bodies, 
 adhering to one another, and of a pale yellow brown 
 colour. The specimens first examined looked complete 
 in themselves, and were taken for eggs of some water 
 creature. Further search, however, disclosed aggrega- 
 tions of similar sugar-loaves that had evidently formed 
 part of a tubular structure, and the idea at once 
 occurred that they were fragments of a Melicerta tube, 
 a conclusion that was verified by finding some tubes 
 entire and a dead Melicerta in the rubbish at the 
 bottom. All the specimens of Melicerta tubes we had 
 hitherto examined were composed of rounded pellets, 
 but these were made of pointed cones or sugar-loaves, 
 with the points projecting outwards from the general 
 surface. In Pritchard^s ' Infusoria,' these pellets are 
 described " as small lenticular bodies." The ^ Micro- 
 graphic Dictionary' states that the tubes of the 
 Melicerta are composed of " numerous rounded or 
 discoidal bodies ;'' and Mr. Gosse, in his ' Tenby/ 
 which contains an admirable description, and an 
 exquisite drawing of this interesting rotifer, calls the 
 pellets '^ round." 
 
 Not being able to obtain a living specimen of the 
 Melicerta, who made her tube of long sugar-loaves, I 
 could not tell whether she differed in structure from 
 the usual pattern of her race, but the general appear- 
 ance of the dead body was the same. It is possible 
 that these creatures possess some power of modifying 
 the form of their singular bricks, or they may at 
 different ages vary the patterns, which matters some 
 
-^n-^ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 ?o 
 
 Mciicerta i 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 101 
 
 fortunate possessor of a colony of these animals may be 
 able to verify. 
 
 In the sediment of the water containing the Mcli- 
 certa cases was found an animalcule about 1-120" lone:, 
 covered with cilia, and having a proboscis seldom more 
 than a quarter of the length assumed by the body, 
 which continually changed its form, sometimes elon- 
 gating, sometimes shortening, and often contracting 
 one side into a deep fissure. It was, probably, an 
 Amphileptus, though not precisely agreeing with any 
 
 Scaridium longlcaudum. 
 
 drawing or description I am acquainted with. Another 
 inmate of the same water was a lively long-tailed rotifer, 
 with a small oval body, a tuft of vibrating cilia and a 
 curved bristle visible among them on one side. This 
 creature had a jointed tail-foot, ending in two long 
 style-shaped toes, and by means of this appendage 
 executed rapid leaps or springs. It was the Scarid'mm 
 longicaudum, and agreed in dimensions tolerably well 
 with the size given in the books, namely, total length 
 1-72''. With a power of five hundred diameters the 
 
102 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 muscles of the tail-foot presented a beautifully striated 
 appearance. 
 
 Towards the end of the month I passed the Vale of 
 Heath Pond, Hampstead, and although I had not gone 
 out for the purpose of collecting, was fortunately 
 provided with a two-dram bottle. Close by the path the 
 Anacharis alsinastrum grew in profusion, quantities of 
 water-snails crawled among its branches, and small fish 
 darted in and out, threading their mazes with lightning 
 rapidity. Thrusting a walking-stick among the mass 
 of vegetation, a few little tufts were drawn up and care- 
 fully bottled, with the addition of a little water. 
 Returning home, a few leaves were placed in the live- 
 box, and on examination with the power of sixty dia- 
 meters they disclosed a specimen of, perhaps, the most 
 beautiful of all the rotifers, the Stephanoceros Eichornii. 
 In this elegant creature an oval body, somewhat ex- 
 panded at the top, is supported upon a tapering stalk, 
 and stands in a gelatinous bottle, composed of irregular 
 rings superimposed one upon the other, as if thrown off 
 by successive efforts, the upper ones being inverted and 
 attached to the body of the animal. But that which 
 constitutes the glory of this little being is the crown of 
 five tapering tentacles, each having two rows of long 
 cilia arranged on opposing sides, but not in the same 
 plane. The ordinary position of the tentacles is that 
 of a graceful elliptical curve, first swelling outwards, 
 then bending inwards, until their points closely approxi- 
 mate, but each is capable of independent motion, and 
 they are seldom quiet for many minutes at a time. 
 The cilia can be arranged in parallel rows or in tufts 
 
/ 
 
 / 
 
 V ^ 
 
 CM 
 
 ^ 
 
 130 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 103 
 
 at the will of the creature, and tlicir motion ajipcars 
 under control, and susceptible of greater modification 
 than is exhibited by the ordinary infusoria. 
 
 The Stephanoceros is a member of tlie Floscule 
 family, but in all the specimens I obtained and watched 
 for several weeks, there was an important dilfcrcnce in 
 the relation of the tube to the creature. In the Flos- 
 cules I had never seen anything like an adhesion 
 between the tube and the animal, but in the Stephano- 
 ceros I noticed it continually, and always in the manner 
 already described. Like the Floscule, the Stephano- 
 ceros is readily alarmed, and retreats into her house, 
 carrying with her the invaginated portion. In the last 
 edition of ' Pritchard^s Infusoria,' this case is spoken of 
 as apparently not tubular, but a solid gelatinous mass, 
 enveloping the animal as high up as the base of the 
 rotatory arms. It is very likely that specimens at 
 different ages, and possibly in different seasons, may 
 vary in the structure of their abodes; but I am not 
 able to concur in the preceding account, as all the 
 tubes I examined resembled sacks turned in at the 
 mouths, and attached to the shoulders only of their 
 inmates ; and on one occasion I was able to look down 
 into a deserted tube, which liad not collapsed, as it 
 would have done if it had been merely a solid gelatinous 
 mass. 
 
 Like the Floscule, the Stephanoceros only reveals 
 her beauties under careful illumination. A direct light 
 renders them invisible, and only when the requisite 
 obliquity has been obtained, does the exquisite char- 
 acter of the structure become displayed. The dark- 
 
104 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 ground illumination is very useful^ and makes the 
 ciliary action very distinct. At times a view can be 
 obtained, in which the cilia of perhaps a single tentacle 
 are all ranged like the steel springs of a musical box. 
 For a moment they are quiescent, and then they vibrate 
 in succession, each moving thread sparkling in the 
 light. With a clumsy mode of lighting them, the cilia 
 look like stumpy bristles, and are often so drawn ; but 
 precisely the right quantity of light coming in the 
 right direction, makes them appear more numerous, 
 and much longer than would at first be supposed. 
 When well exhibited the tentacles have a lustre between 
 glass and pearl ; the body, in a favorable specimen, is 
 like a crystal cup, and the food, usually composed of 
 small red and green globes, glows like emeralds and 
 rubies, as if in the height of luxury the little epicure 
 had more than rivalled Cleopatra^s draught, and instead 
 of dissolving, swallowed its jewelry whole. So lustrous 
 and varied in colour is the whole appearance of the 
 animal under these circumstances, that it is frequently 
 alluded to by one of our first artists, to whom it was 
 displayed. 
 
 It is said by some authors that the tentacles are used 
 to seize prey. This never occurred under my observa- 
 tion, although their basal portions are often approxi- 
 mated when an object is forced down to the grinding 
 apparatus below. The Stephanoceros is a ravenous 
 feeder, and swallows a variety of creatures. Green 
 vegetable monads, rich red and brown globes of similar 
 characters, and any animalcule that comes in her way 
 is acceptable ; and even good sized rotifers do not 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 105 
 
 escape her all-consuming maw. On one occasion T 
 noticed one of the loricatcd sort, more tlian half as 
 long as one of her tentacles, rapidly swallowed, and 
 passed downwards without attempting to escape. 
 Objects much too big for the gizzard are often gulped 
 down, and probably receive a preliminary softening and 
 maceration in the crop. Very often, when food is 
 plentiful, the creature is filled to the brim, but still 
 endeavours to continue her abundant meal. From the 
 presence of large quantities of food and the density of 
 the integuments, the gizzard cannot always be seen ; 
 but in favorable specimens its teeth may be observed 
 busily at work. 
 
 At the base of the tentacles small masses of matter 
 may be discovered, which are probably nervous ganglia, 
 and other organs; and Ehrenberg discovered small 
 vibrating bodies, supposed to be connected with the 
 function of respiration. A single e^^, as shown in the 
 annexed drawing, is often found, and the ovarian is said 
 to develop but few at a time. Two red eyes are found 
 in young specimens, but in adults they either disappear 
 or are not conspicuous. The Stephanoceri are sociable 
 animals, and when one is found, others are j)robal)ly 
 near at hand. Several may often be discovered on the 
 same branch of a small water-})lant, of various dimen- 
 sions, and in different stages of growth. The full size 
 is about \-2tQ>" in height, and from its magnitude care 
 is required not to crush it in the live-box. AVhen 
 specimens are plentiful, some should be placed in that 
 convenient receptacle ; and others with the plant on 
 which they are growing, in a glass cell or trough, 
 
106 
 
 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 where they have more room to display their motions, 
 and can with fresh supplies of water, be preserved for 
 days and weeks. With occasional renewals from one 
 pond, I was able to keep np a stock for about three 
 months, and never had objects which gave more plea- 
 sure to myself or to my friends. 
 
Marvels of Pond- Lije, 107 
 
 CHAPTER X, 
 
 OCTOBER. 
 
 Stentors and Steplianocerl — Description of Stentors — Mode of viewing 
 them — Their ahundance — Social habits — Solitary Stentors living in 
 Gelatinons caves — Propagation by divers modes — Cephalosiphon 
 Limnias — A group of Vagiuicolai — Changes ©f shape — A bubble- 
 blowing Vorticella. 
 
 CTOBER, the finest of our autumn months, is 
 noted for usually granting the inhabitants of 
 our dripping climate about twenty pleasant 
 sunshiny days, and it is probably on this account some- 
 what of a favourite with the infusorial world, although 
 the cold of its nights and early mornings thins their 
 numbers, which reach a maximum in the summer heat. 
 Even in the dismal year 1860, October maintained its 
 character, and afforded a great many opportunities of 
 animalcule hunting, during which a constant supply of 
 Stephanoceri were readily obtained, together witli 
 swarms of Stentors, which are not exceeded in interest 
 by any of the Ciliated Protozoa. The Stentors were 
 abundant on the same weed [Anacharis) ^ that formed 
 the residence of the Stephanoceri, and might be seeu 
 in large numbers hanging from it like green trumpets, 
 visible to the unassisted eye. In the ' Micrograpliic 
 
108 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 Dictionary ' they are said to belong to tlie 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 covering the body and the 
 larger ones round the mouth. Those before us are 
 named after this property Stentor polymorphus ,^ or 
 Many-shaped Stent or s, and owe their exquisite tint to 
 numberless green vesicles, or small cavities filled with 
 colouring matter like that of plants. This, however, is 
 not essential to the species which may often be found 
 of other hues. In size this Stentor varies from a 
 hundred and twentieth to one twenty-fourth of an 
 inch. It is entirely covered with fine cilia, disposed in 
 longitudinal rows, and round the head is a spiral 
 wreath of larger and very conspicuous cilia leading to 
 the mouth. 
 
 Having observed the abundance of these creatures, a 
 few small branches to which they were appended, were 
 placed in the glass trough, and viewed with powers of 
 sixty and one hundred linear. Some had tumbled 
 down as shapeless lumps, others presented broad 
 funnel-shaped bodies ; while others stretched themselves 
 to great length like the long, narrow post-horns which 
 still wake the echoes of a few old-fashioned towns. 
 The ciliary motion 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 
 
 * See Frontispiece. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Lije. 
 
 \m 
 
 food came near the corkscrew entrance to tlie mouth, 
 down it went, and if conspicuous for colour, was 
 subsequently seen apparently embedded in little 
 cavities, which Ehreuberg supposed were separate 
 stomachs, although that theory is now rejected. One 
 advantage of viewing these objects in a sufficient 
 
 A, B, C, D, Stentor polymorphus in dlfTerent degrees of ex- 
 pansion. A large specimen is one twenty-fourth of an inch 
 long. 
 
 quantity of water, to leave them in freedom, is that 
 they frequently turn themselves, so that you can see 
 rio-ht down into them ; and the drawing given in the 
 frontispiece represents such a view, which is the most 
 favorable for the exhibition of the mouth. To make 
 
110 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 out the details of their structure^ to see the nucleus 
 and other organs^ the flattening in the live-box is 
 useful, and it enables much higher powers to be em- 
 ployed. 
 
 After leaving the Anacharis in a glass jar for a few 
 days, the Stentors multiplied exceedingly ; some clung 
 to the sides of the vessel in sociable communities, 
 others hung from the surface of the water, and crowds 
 settled 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, now globular, now oddly distorted, until all 
 semblance of the original shape was lost. Many were 
 found in shiny tubes, but these were never so lively or 
 green as the free swimmers, but mostly of a dingy 
 dirty hue. 
 
 These housekeepers were more timid and cautious 
 than the roving tribe. They came slowly out of their 
 dens, drew back at the slightest alarm, never took their 
 tails from home, and only extended their full length 
 when certain not to be disturbed. Some authors have 
 thought they only take to private lodgings when they 
 feel a little bit poorly, but others dispute this opinion, 
 and I do not think it is correct. 1 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 sort. Whether they are old 
 folks, who are tired of the world and its gaieties, and 
 devote the remainder of their lives to contemplation, or 
 whether they are bachelors disappointed in love, I am 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 1 1 1 
 
 unable to say ; but they are very inferior in beauty to 
 the " gay and glittering crowd/^^ 
 
 For some weeks my Stentors al)Oundcd, and then 
 most of them suddenly disappeared. They could not 
 have " movcd/^ but probably " went to smash ^' by a 
 process peculiar to infusoria, and which Dujardin 
 politely describes as ^' difflucnee/' This mode of 
 making an exit from the stage of life is more tragical 
 than the ripping up so fashionable in Japan. The 
 integument bursts, and its contents disperse in minute 
 particles, that in their turn disappear, and scarcely 
 leave a ^^ wrack behind/^ 
 
 The Stentors obey the injunction to " increase and 
 multiply" by self- division, which Stein says is always 
 oblique, and the nucleus, which plays such an impor- 
 tant ^part in infusoria, is band-like, moniliform (bead- 
 shape), or round. When an animalcule 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 propa- 
 gation. "The anus is situated on the back close 
 beneath the ciliary circle ;" and the " contractile vesicle 
 on a level with the ciliary wreath.'' Steiu records that 
 in November, 1858, he met green Stentors [Pobj- 
 morphus) encysted, and he figures one in a gelatinous 
 flask having a stopper in its narrow neck. 
 
 Before closing our account of the Stentor, let us 
 revert a moment to the ciliary wreath, as it may be 
 made the subject of a curious experiment. If, for 
 
 * Stein says the colourless variety of S. Polymorphus is sometimes 
 found with a tube, and the S. Rossellii very frc(iueutly so provided. 
 
112 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 example, the cilia are viewed at right-angles 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 the form which washerwomen give to certain 
 female articles by the use of the Italian iron, and the 
 ciliary motion is thus made to take place in different 
 planes, and rendered strikingly apparent. 
 
 One day turning over the Anacharis in search of 
 subjects, a small brown tube was noticed, from which 
 a glassy rod protruded like the feeler of a rotifer. 
 Keeping the table quiet, and watching the result, was 
 soon rewarded by a further protrusion of the feeler, 
 accompanied by a portion of the body of the inmate of 
 the tube. The feeler was thrust on this side and on 
 that, as if collecting information for its 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 limniaSj 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 ciliary apparatus could be seen. The 
 tube of this creature was opaque, from the adhesion of 
 foreign matter, and presented an untidy appearance, 
 strangely contrasting with the clear, neat bottles of the 
 rioscules. These Cephalosiphons are very whimsical 
 in their ways, and many that were sent to different 
 observers never exhibited their ciliary wreaths, but 
 performed sundry antics, disguising their true shape. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 113 
 
 Somewhat like the Cephalosiplion, thougli nmch 
 commoner and without the sipliou, is Limiiias cerato- 
 phylli, which every collector is sure to meet. The 
 
 kS' ';"'•■ Vf 
 
 w 
 
 :■■- ,'; 
 
 
 180 
 
 . -4 ) 
 
 s 
 
 Cepbalosiphou llmnias. 
 
 length of the Limnias varies, according to Pritchard, 
 from 1-20" to 1-40". Our Ccphalosiplion, wlien fully 
 extended and magnified one hundred and ciglity linear, 
 
 8 
 
114 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 looked about three inches and a half long, 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 parts, and in form approaching the quadrature of 
 a globe. Across the upper surface of the mass the 
 uncus is stretched like three long parallel fingers, 
 arched in their common direction, and imbedded in the 
 muscular substances, their points just reaching the 
 opposing face of the ramus, and meeting the points of 
 the opposite uncus when closed.-""^ 
 
 There is no connection between Limnias or Cephalo- 
 siphon and their tubes, except that of simple adhesion, 
 which takes place by means of the end of their foot- 
 stalks. 
 
 In a former chapter we have described an interesting 
 relation of the Vorticella, the Cothurnia, whose elegant 
 crystal vases form a very artistic abode, characterised 
 by possessing a distinct foot. Other species of the 
 same 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 have given of them, and also to the cha- 
 racters which the authorities have assigned to the 
 different genera in which they have been grouped, but 
 
 * The term uncus, ramus, etc., have been explained in Chapter II, 
 page 28. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 im 
 
 the microscopist will often meet with difficulties in the 
 way of classification. 
 
 Attached to a piece of weed were a nuraher of cylin- 
 drical masses of brownish jelly, with rounded tops, and 
 situated in an irregular and very transparent sheath, 
 about twice as high as themselves. Presently they all 
 rose up to four times their previous height, put forth a 
 
 ^ 
 
 \^;^\,^ 
 
 
 £40 
 
 Vaginicola (?) (A, elongated ; B, retracted.) 
 
 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, gi-accfully 
 curved, but of nearly equal width from the mouth to 
 the base, and they readily imbibed particles of carmine, 
 which tinged sundry little cavities with its characteristic 
 hue. The slightest disturbance caused the ciliary 
 
116 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 wreaths to be drawn in, and the bodies to be retracted, 
 and descend into their house like a conjuring toy, until 
 the appearance first described was reproduced. 
 
 The general form and structure of these objects was 
 like the drawings usually given of Vaginicola, which is 
 said not to exist in groups, although two individuals 
 are commonly found in one well-shaped cell. These 
 creatures, however, did not taper towards the base as 
 Vaginicolae generally do, and perhaps they became 
 aware of this defect in their figures, for after a day or 
 two a change appeared, and they assumed a more 
 graceful form by swelling out in the middle, and then 
 growing slender down to the bottom, very much like 
 the pattern given by glass-blowers to little vases of 
 flowers . 
 
 It is very important to note the changing appearance 
 of animalcules, and where the same individuals can be 
 observed from day to day, these will often be found 
 considerable. It is probable that when such particulars 
 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 
 VaginicolcB, but the reader must be prepared to find 
 similar bodies, inhabiting well-formed vases, either 
 solitarily or in couples, the latter condition arising 
 from the fission of one individual without a corre- 
 sponding division of the abode. 
 
 For a few weeks I continually met with groups living 
 as I have described, in what may be called amorphous 
 cells, which were often so nearly like the surrounding 
 water in refracting power, as to be discerned with some 
 
Marvels of Pond-IJfe, 1 1 7 
 
 difficulty. No trace could be seen of divisious into 
 separate cells^ but they all appeared to live liapj)ilv 
 together in one room, and if one went up all went 
 up, and if one went down all went down, as if their 
 proceedings were regulated by a community of sensa- 
 tion or will. 
 
 Another little curiosity was a transparent rnp npr)n a 
 slender stem, which stood upright like a wine-glass, 
 and supported on its mouth a transparent globe. 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 drawn in, and 
 reduced in size. Why the creature was engaged in 
 blowing this bubble I do not know, and have not met 
 with another instance of such conduct. 
 
 
118 Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 NOVEMBER. 
 
 Characteristics of the Polyzoa — Details of structure according to 
 Allmau — Plumatella repens — Its great beauty under proper illu- 
 mination — Its tentacles and their cilia — The mouth and its guard 
 or epistome — Intestinal tube — How it swallowed a Rotifer, and 
 what happened — Curiosities of digestion — Are the tentacles capable 
 of Stinging ? — Resting Eggs, or " Statoblasts " — Tube of Pluma- 
 tella — Its muscular Fibres — Physiological importance of their 
 structure. 
 
 jURING the fag end of last month I observed 
 some fragments of a new creature among 
 some bits of Anacharis, from the Vale of 
 Heath Pond^ and searched for complete and intelligible 
 specimens without effect. Luckily one evening a 
 scientific neighbour, to whom I had given some of the 
 plant for the sake of the beautiful Stephonocei'i which 
 inhabited it, came in with a glass trough containing a 
 little branch, to which adhered a dirty parchment-like 
 ramifying tube, dotted here and there with brown oval 
 masses, and having sundry open extremities, from 
 which some polyp-shaped animals put forth long pearly 
 tentacles margined with vibrating cilia, and making 
 a lively current. The creatures presented an organiza- 
 tion higher than that of polyps, for there was an 
 
^ 
 
 •a,^^ 
 
 O 
 
 f,'<"> 
 
 i.ntp'.la tff 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 1 1 D 
 
 evident differentiation and complication of parts. Tlicy 
 belonged to the Pohjzoa or Bnjozoa^ a very important 
 division of the moUusca. The Pohjzoa are chiefly 
 marine^ and the common " sea-mat/' often erroneously 
 treated as a sea-iveed, is a well-known form. A species 
 of another order often picked up on our coasts is the 
 Sertularia, or Sea-Fir, composed of delicate branching 
 stems of a horny-looking substance, which, under a 
 pocket-lens, is found to contain an immense number of 
 small cells inhabited bv Polvps. It is instructive to 
 compare the two and note how much more advanced in 
 ..structure is the Polyzoon than the polyp. 
 
 Polyzoa were formerly associated with the polyps, to 
 which they bear a strong superficial resemblance ; but 
 they are of a much higher degree of organization, as 
 will be seen by comparing w^iat has been said in a 
 former chapter on the Hydra, with the description 
 which we now proceed to abridge from Dr. AUman's 
 splendid monograph on the fresh-water kinds. In 
 order to get a general conception of a Polyzoon, the 
 Professor tells us to imagine an alimentary canal, 
 consisting of oesophagus, stomach, and intestine, to be 
 furnished at its origin with long ciliated tentacles, and 
 to have a single nervous ganglion on one side of the 
 oesophagus. We must then conceive the intestine bent 
 back till its anal orifice comes near the mouth ; and 
 this curved digestive tube to be suspended in a bag 
 containing fluid, and having two 0})enings, one for the 
 
 * Polyzoa means " many animals," in allusion to their habit of living 
 in association. Bryozoa, " moss-animals," from some formuig cells 
 having that appearance. 
 
120 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 mouth and the other for the vent. A system of 
 muscles enables the alimentary tube to be retracted or 
 protruded, the former process pulling the bag in_, and 
 the latter letting it out. The mouth of the bag is, so 
 to speak, tied round the creature^s neck just below the 
 tentacles, which are the only portions of it that are 
 left free. The investing sack has in nearly every case 
 the power of secreting an external sheath, more or less 
 solid, and which branches forming numerous cells, in 
 which the members of the family live in a socialistic 
 community, having, as it were, two lives, one individual, 
 and the other shared in common with the rest. 
 
 The whole group of tubes and cells, whatever may be 
 the form in which they are aggregated, is called the 
 Polypary, or, as Dr. AUman- prefers, the Ccenoecium 
 (common house) ; the creature he names a Polypide^ 
 (polyp-like) ; and the disk which bears the tentacles 
 Lophophore (crest-bearer). There are some more hard 
 words to be learnt before the student can enjoy himself 
 scientifically among the Polyzoa, and we shall be 
 compelled to employ some of them before we have 
 done ; but will now endeavour to describe what Avas 
 presented to our view by the specimen obtained from 
 the Hampstead Pond. 
 
 The general aspect of a branch of Plumatella repens 
 . — the creature we have to describe — is given in the 
 drawing annexed. When all was quiet, the mouths of 
 the bags belonging to each cell were slowly everted, 
 and out came a numerous bundle of tentacles, which 
 
 * Folyzoon is preferable, as avoiding confusion with ;poIi/pite, used 
 for another class of object. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life, 1 2 1 
 
 ■were either spread like tlie corolla of a flower, or 
 permitted to haiiG^ dishevelled like the snake-locks of 
 Medusa. "We will suppose these organs symmetrically 
 expanded, and that we are looking down upon them 
 with a magnifying power of sixty diameters, the light 
 having been carefully adjusted l)y turning the reflecting 
 mirror a little on one side, to avoid a direct glare. 
 The tentacles, each of which curves with a living grace, 
 and displays an opaline tint in its glassy structure, do 
 not form a complete circle, for at one place we discern 
 two slightly diverging arms of the disk, or frame 
 (Lophophore) from which they grow. 
 
 These arms support tentacles on each side, and leave 
 a gap between, so that the whole pattern is crescentic, 
 or crescent-shaped, and not circular. Extending as far 
 as the points of the arms, and carried all round the 
 crescent, is an extremely delicate membrane, like the 
 finest gauze, which unites all the tentacles by their 
 basal portions, and makes an elegant retreating curve 
 between every two. Each tentacle cxhii)its two rows 
 of cilia, which scintillate as their vibrations cause them 
 to catch the light. The motion of the cilia is in- 
 variably doivn one side and tip the other, the current 
 or pattern being carried on from one tentacle to the 
 other, all through the series. This characteristic, and 
 the facility with which each cilium can be distin- 
 guished, gives great interest and beauty to the spec- 
 tacle of this wonderful apparatus, by which water- 
 currents are made to bathe the tentacles, and assist 
 respiration, and also to carry food towards the mouth, 
 over which a sort of finger or tongue is stretched to 
 
122 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 guard the way, and exercise some choice as to what 
 particles shall be permitted to pass on. This organ is 
 called the epistome, from two Greek words, signifying 
 ^' upon the mouth/^ 
 
 If the cell is an old one, it may be covered with so 
 much extraneous matter as to obscure the economy 
 within j but we are fortunate in having a transparent 
 specimen before us, through which we can see all that 
 goes on. The alimentary tube, after forming a capacious 
 cavity, much longer than it is broad, turns round and 
 terminates in an orifice near the mouth, and just below 
 the integuments. When refuse has to be discharged, 
 this orifice is protruded; and after the operation is 
 over, it draws back as before. Long muscles, composed 
 of separate threads or fibres, pull the creature in and out 
 of its cell, and at the part where the stomach ends, and 
 the intestine turns round, is attached a long flexible 
 rope, called the funiculus, which goes to the bottom of 
 the cell. The passage of the food down to the stomach, 
 its digestion, and the eviction of the residue, can all be 
 watched ; and when a large morsel is swallowed, the 
 spectacle is curious in the extreme. 
 
 One day a polyzoon caught a large rotifer, {R. vul- 
 garis,) which, with several others of its tribe, had been 
 walking over the coenGecium, and swimming amongst 
 the tentacles, as if unconscious of danger. All of a 
 sudden it went down the whirlpool leading to the mouth, 
 was rolled up by a process that could not be traced, 
 and without an instant's loss of time, was seen shooting 
 down in rapid descent to the gulf below, where it looked 
 a potato-shaped mass, utterly destitute of its charac- 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life. 123 
 
 teristic living form. Having been made into a bolus, 
 tbe unhappy rotifer, who never gave tlic faintest sign of 
 vitality, vras tossed up and down from tlie top to tlie 
 bottom of the stomach, just as a billiard-ball might be 
 thrown from the top to tlie bottom of a stocking. 
 This process went on for hours, the ball gradually 
 diminishing in size, until at last it was lost in the 
 general brown mass with which the stomach was filled. 
 The bottom of the stomach seems well supplied with 
 muscular fibres, to cause the constrictions by which 
 this work is chiefly performed, and by keeping a colony 
 for a month or two, I had many opportunities of seeing 
 my Polyzoa at their meals. 
 
 When alarmed the tentacles were quickly retracted, 
 but although these creatures are said to dislike the light, 
 and usually keep away from it in their native haunts, 
 my specimens had no objection to come out in a strong 
 illumination, and seemed perfectly at their ease. They 
 were indeed, most amiable creatures, and never failed to 
 display their charms to admiring visitors, who rewarded 
 them with unmeasured praise. Twice 1 had an oppor- 
 tunity of observing an action I cannot explain, except 
 by supposing either that the tentacles of the PlumaicUa 
 have some poisonous action, or that rotifers arc 
 susceptible of fear. On these occasions the common 
 rotifer was the subject of the experiment. First one 
 and then another got among the tentacles, and on 
 escaping seemed very poorly. One fellow was, to borrow 
 a phrase from Professor Thomas Sayers, '' completely 
 doubled up," and two or three seconds — long periods in 
 a rotifer's life— elapsed before he came to himself again. 
 
124 Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 By keeping a colony of the Plumatella for a few weeks 
 in a glass trougli^ and occasionally supplying them with 
 fresh water from an aquarium, containing the animal- 
 cules, they are easily preserved in good health, and as 
 they develop fresh cells_, the process of growth may be 
 readily watched. This production of fresh individuals 
 enlarges the parent colony, but could not be the means 
 of founding a new one, which is accomplished by two 
 other modes. A little way down the cells Professor 
 Allman discovered an ovary attached to the internal 
 tube by a short peduncle , or foot stalk, while a testis or 
 male generative organ is attached to the funiculus, or 
 " little rope,^' we have already described. 
 
 July and August are the best times for observing the 
 ovaries, and they are most conspicuous in the genera 
 Alcyonella and Paludicella. True eggs are developed in 
 the ovaries in a manner resembling this mode of mul- 
 tiplication in other animals ; but there is another kind 
 of e^^, or, perhaps to speak more properly, a variety of 
 bud, which is extremely curious. In looking at our 
 specimens we noticed brown oval bodies in the cells ; 
 these, on careful examination, presented the appearance 
 of the sketch. The centre is dark, covered with a net- 
 work, which is more conspicuous in the lighter coloured 
 and more transparent margins. These curious bodies 
 are produced from the funiculus, and act as reserves of 
 propagative force, as they are not hatched or developed 
 until they get out and find themselves exposed to ap- 
 propriate circumstances. Professor Allman jiames 
 them Statoblasts, or stationary germs, and they bear 
 some resemblance to what are called the " winter eggs " 
 
yiiuria'-ella reueiis on a. leai. 
 
Marvels oj Pond-Life. 125 
 
 of some otlier creatures. The Profcsssor was never able 
 to discover any mode by whicli tlicy were permitted to 
 escape from the cells, and in our colonies none were 
 allowed to leave their homes until the death of their 
 parent, and the decomposition of its cell liad taken 
 place ; a process which went on contemporaneously with 
 the growth of new cells, until the plant on which the 
 coenoeciwn was situated, rotted away, and then unfortu- 
 nately the whole concern went to pieces. 
 
 The tubes of the Plumatella, and of most other Polv- 
 zoa, are composed of two coats, called respectively 
 endocyst and ectocyst, that is, " inner case " and " outer 
 case." The first is vitally endowed, and exhibits vessels 
 and muscular fibres. The second or outer case is 
 thrown off by the first. It is a parchment-like substance, 
 strengthened by the adhesion of dirt particles, and does 
 not appear to exercise any vital functions, but to be 
 merely a covering for protection. The inner layer 
 terminates in the neck of the bag before described, as 
 exserted when the polypide comes out, and inverted 
 when it goes in. This mode of making a case or sheath 
 by inversion of a bag is technically called inv(i[/inut'iou, 
 and is readily seen in new and transparent cells. 
 
 The movement of eversion, or coming out, is chiefly 
 produced by the contraction of the endocyst ; while the 
 inversion, or getting in again, is performed by the long 
 muscles, whicli, when the animal is extended, are seen 
 attached to it like ropes. Upon these muscles Pro- 
 fessor Allman remarks that they are "especially in- 
 teresting in a physiological point of view, as they seem 
 to present us with an example of true muscular tissue, 
 
126 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 reduced to its simplest and essential form. A muscle 
 may here be viewed as a beautiful dissection far sur- 
 passing the most refined preparation of the dissecting 
 needle^ for it is composed of a bundle of elementary 
 fibres, totally separate from one another through their 
 entire course." He further adds, " The fibres of the 
 great retractor muscle are distinctly marked by trans- 
 verse striae ; — a condition, however, which is not at all 
 times equally perceptible, and some of our best ob- 
 servers have denied to the Polyzoon the existence of 
 striated fibre. '^ 
 
 We can confirm the fact of this sort of fibre being 
 present, but we fancy a reader not versed in the 
 mysteries of physiology exclaiming, ' What does it 
 matter whether his fibres are striped or not ?' 
 
 Physiologists used to suppose there was a strong and 
 marked distinction and separation between striped 
 muscles, that is, muscles the fibres of which exhibit 
 transverse stripes when magnified, and those which do 
 not. KoUiker, however, says this decided separation 
 can no longer be maintained,"^ and he gives instances 
 in proof of the connections that can be traced between 
 the two forms. In the higher animals the striped 
 muscles are the special instruments oiwill, and of move- 
 ments that follow, or are accompanied by, distinct sensa- 
 tions. Striped fibre must be regarded as the highest 
 form ; and as a muscle of this sort contracts in length 
 it increases uniformly in breadth. 
 
 There are many other genera and species of fresh- 
 water polyzoa besides the Plumatella repenSj and they 
 * ' Manual of Human Microscopic Anatomy/ p. 63. 
 
Marvels of Pon d-Life. 1 2 7 
 
 are found attached to sticks, stones, or leaves, generally 
 to the under surface of the latter. They are all objects 
 of great interest and beauty, m hich, whatever their diver- 
 sity, conform sufficiently to one type that tlie student 
 who has observed one, will easily recognise the zoological 
 position of another. They should be viewed by trans- 
 mitted and by dark-ground illumination, which produces 
 very beautiful effects. To observe them in the perform- 
 ance of their functions, they require more room than 
 the live-box can aflbrd, but are well shown in the glass 
 trough, whose moveable diaphragm enables them to be 
 brought near enough to the object-glass, for the use of 
 a power of about sixty linear for general purposes, and 
 of from one to two hundred for the examination of 
 particular parts. For a more detailed examination 
 dissection must be employed, but all that we have men- 
 tioned can be seen without injury to the living animal, 
 if specimens are kept till new cells are formed in water, 
 which does not contain enough dirt to render their in- 
 teguments opaque. 
 
 — ^^i^sg^^^5*!-^— 
 
128 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DECEMBER. 
 
 Microscopic Hunting in Winter — Water-bears, or Tardigrada — Their 
 comical behaviour — Mode of viewing them — Singular gizzard 
 — A compressorium — Achromatic condenser — Mouth of the 
 Water-bear — Water-bears' exposure to heat — Soluble albumen — 
 Physiological and chemical reasons why they are not killed by 
 beating and drying — The Trachelius ovum — Mode of swimming — 
 Method of viewing — By dark-ground illumination — Curious diges- 
 tive tube with branches — Multiplication by division — Change of 
 form immediately following this process — Subsequent appearances. 
 
 HERE is always satisfaction in finding a work 
 accomplislied ; but tlie attempt to delineate 
 some of tlie marvels of minute creation has 
 been a pleasant one^ and we approach the completion of 
 our task of recording a Microscopic Year with some- 
 thing like regret. The dark^ dirty December of the 
 great metropolis may not seem a promising time for 
 field excursions, but some ponds lie near enough to 
 practicable roads and paths to render an occasional dip 
 in them, not of ourselves, but of our bottles — an 
 easy and not unpleasant performance ; and if the 
 weather is unusually bad, we can fall back upon onr 
 preserves in bottles and tanks, which seldom fail to 
 afford something new, as we have been pretty sure to 
 bring home some undeveloped germs with our stock of 
 
Marvels of P 071 d- Life. 129 
 
 pond-water and plants, and even creatnres of con- 
 siderable size are very likely to have escaped detection 
 in our first efforts at examination. 
 
 When objects are not over abundant, as is apt to be 
 the case in the cold months, it is well to fill a large vial 
 with some water out of the aquarium or other large 
 vessel, and watch what living specks may be moving 
 about therein. These are readily examined with a 
 pocket-lens, and with a little dexterity any promising 
 creature can be fished out with the dipping-tube. It is 
 also advisable to shake a mass of vegetation in a white 
 basin, as the larger infusoria, &c., may be thrown 
 down ; and indeed this method (as recommended by 
 Pritchard) is always convenient. Even so small a 
 quantity of water as is contained in a glass cell, ap- 
 propriated to the continual examination of polyps or 
 polyzoa, should be frequently hunted over with a low 
 power, as in the course of days and weeks one race of 
 small animals will disappear, and another take their 
 place. 
 
 Following these various methods in December, we 
 obtained many specimens; but the most interesting was 
 found by taking up small branches of the Anacharis 
 with a pair of forceps, and putting them into a glass 
 trough to see what inhabitants they might possess. 
 One of these trials was rewarded by the appearance of 
 a little puppy-shaped animal very busy pawing about 
 with eight imperfect legs, but not making much pro- 
 gress with all his efforts. It was evident that we had 
 obtained one of the Tardigrada (slow-steppers), or 
 Water-Bears, and a very comical amusing little fellow 
 
130 
 
 Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 he was. The figure was like that of a new-born puppy, 
 or " unlicked " bear cub ; each of the eight legs were 
 provided with four serviceable claws, there was no 
 tail, and the blunt head was susceptible of considerable 
 alteration of shape. He was grubbing about among 
 some bits of decayed vegetation^ and from the mass of 
 green matter in his stomachy it was evident that he was 
 
 Water-Bear. 
 
 not one of that painfully numerous class in England — 
 the starving poor. 
 
 A power of one hundred and five linear, obtained 
 with a two-thirds object-glass, and the second eye-piece, 
 enabled all his motions and general structure to be ex- 
 hibited, and showed that he possessed a sort of gizzard, 
 whose details would require more magnification to bring 
 out. Accordingly the dipping-tube was carefully held 
 just over him, the finger removed, and luckily in went 
 the little gentleman with the ascending current. He 
 was cautiously transferred to a Compressorium,^ an 
 
 * The best forms of this instrument are made by Messrs. R. & J. 
 Beck, the glass plates being held in their places by flat-headed screws, 
 and not by cement. This plan was devised by the author, and makes 
 it easy to renew the glasses when broken. 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life. 131 
 
 apparatus by which the approach of two thin plates 
 of glass can be regulated by the action of a spring and 
 a screw; and just enough pressure was employed to 
 keep him from changing his place, although he was 
 able to move his tiny limbs. Thus arranged, he 
 was placed under a power of two hundred and forty 
 linear, and illuminated by an achromatic condenser,* to 
 make the fine structure of his gizzard as plain as pos- 
 sible. It was then seen that this curious organ contains 
 several prominences or teeth, and is composed of mus- 
 cular fibres, radiating in every direction. From the 
 front of the gizzard proceed two rods, which meet in a 
 point, and are supposed to represent the maxilhe or 
 jaws of insects, while between them is a tube or channel, 
 through which the food is passed. The mouth is 
 suctorial, and the two horny rods, with their central 
 piece or pieces, are protrusile. They were frequently 
 brought as far as the outer lips (if we may so call the 
 margins of the mouth), but we did not witness an actual 
 protrusion, except when the lips accompanied them, 
 and formed a small round pouting orifice. The skin of 
 the animal was tough and somewhat loose, and wrinkled 
 during the contractions its proprietor made. The in- 
 terior of the body exhibited an immense multitude of 
 globular particles of various sizes in constant motion, 
 but not moving in any vessels, or performing a distinct 
 circulation. 
 
 * The acbromatic condenser is a frame capable of supiwrting nn 
 object glass, lower than that employed for vision, througli which the 
 light passes to the object in quantities and directions determined by 
 stops of various shapes. The appearances mentioned can be seen 
 without it, though not so well. 
 
132 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 My specimens had no visible eyes^ and these organs 
 are, according to Pritchard^s book, ^' variable and fuga- 
 cious/^ The same authority remarks, '' In most ^4tal 
 phenomena they very closely accord with the rotatoria ; 
 thus like these they can be revived after being put into 
 hot water at 113° to 118°, but are destroyed by immer- 
 sion in boiling water. They may be gradually heated 
 to 216°, 252°, and even 261°. It is also by their capa- 
 bility of resuscitation after being dried that they are 
 able to sustain their vitality in such localities as the 
 roofs of houses, where at one time they are subjected to 
 great heat and excessive drought, and at another are 
 immersed in water/' 
 
 When vital processes are not stopped by excess of 
 temperature, as is the case with the higher animals, the 
 power of resisting heat without destruction depends 
 upon the condition of the albumen. Soluble albumen, 
 or, as it should be called. Albuminate of Soda (for a 
 small quantity of that alkali is present and chemically 
 united with it), after having been thoroughly dried, may 
 be heated without loss of its solubility ; although if the 
 same temperature was applied before it was dry, that 
 solubility would be destroyed, and it would no longer 
 be a fit constituent of a living creature. As Dr. Car- 
 penter observes, this fact is of much interest in ex- 
 plaining the tenacity of life in the Tardigrada. 
 
 The movements of the water-bears, although slow, 
 evince a decided purpose and ability to make all parts 
 work together for one common object ; and as might 
 be expected from this fact, and also from the 
 repetition of distinct, although not articulated limbs. 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life. 1 33 
 
 they are provided with a nervous apparatus of con- 
 siderable development, in the sliape of a chain of a 
 ganglia and a brain, with connecting filaments. From 
 these and other circumstances naturalists consider the 
 Tardigrada to belong to the great family of Spiders, 
 of which they are, physiologically speaking, poor 
 relati07is. Sicbold says " they form the transition 
 from the Arachnoidal to the Annelides/'* Like 
 the spiders they cast their skin ; and, althougli I 
 was not fortunate enough to witness this operation — 
 called in the language of the learned ecdz/sis-, which 
 means putting its clothes off — I found an empty hide, 
 which, making allowance for the comparative size of 
 the creatures, looked tough and strong as that of a 
 rhinoceros, and showed that the stripping process ex- 
 tended to the tips of the claws. The ^ !Micrographic 
 Dictionary ' states that the Tardigrada lay but few eggs 
 at a time, and these are ^^ usually deposited during the 
 ecdysis, the exuviae serving as a protection to them 
 during the process of hatching/' Thus !Mrs. Water- 
 Bear makes a nursery out of her old skin, a device as 
 ingenious as unexpected. The water-bears are said to 
 be hermaphrodites, but this is improbable. 
 
 The Plumatella repens, described in a former chapter, 
 was kept in a glass trough, to which some fresh water 
 was added every few days, taken from a glass jar tliat had 
 been standing many weeks with growing anacharis in it. 
 One day a singular creature made its api)earancc in the 
 trough; when magnified sixty diameters it resembled 
 an oval bladder, with a sort of proboscis attached to it. 
 
 * 'Anatomy of the Invertebruta/ Burnett's trans., p. 36 k 
 
134 Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 At one part it was longitudinally constricted^ and 
 evidently possessed some branched and complicated 
 internal vessel. The surface was ciliated, and the neck 
 or proboscis acted as a rudder, and enabled the creature 
 to execute rapid turns. It swam up and down, and 
 round about, sometimes rotating on its axis, at others 
 keeping the same side uppermost, but did not exhibit 
 the faintest sign of intelligence in its movements, ex- 
 cept an occasional finger-like bend of the proboscis, 
 upon which the cilia seemed thicker than upon the 
 body. It was big enough to be observed as a moving 
 white speck by the naked eye, when the vessel con- 
 taining it was held to catcb the light slantingly ; but a 
 power of one hundred and five was conveniently em- 
 ployed to enable its structure to be discerned. Under 
 this power, when the animal was resting or moving 
 slowly, a mouth was perceived on the left side of the 
 proboscis, which was usually, though not always, curved 
 to the right. The mouth was a round or oval orifice, 
 and when ' illuminated by the parabola, its lips or 
 margin looked thickened, and of a pale blue, and 
 ciliated, while the rest of the body assumed a pinkish 
 pearly tint. 
 
 Below the mouth came a funnel-shaped tube or 
 oesophagus, having some folds or plaits on its sides, and 
 terminating in a broad digestive tube, distinct from the 
 nucleus, and ramifying like a tree. The constriction 
 before mentioned, which was always seen in certain 
 positions, although it varied very considerably in depth 
 and width, drew up the integument towards the main 
 trunk of the digestive tube, and thus the animal had a 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 13; 
 
 distinct ventral and dorsal side. The branches of the 
 tube stopped somewhat abruptly just before rcachinj* 
 the surface, and were often observed to end in small 
 round vacuoles or vesicles. 
 
 At the bottom of the ])hidder, opposite the mouth, in 
 some specimens were large round cavities or cells, filled 
 with smaller cells, or partially transparent *;ranulcs. 
 These varied in number from one to two or three, and 
 were replaced in other specimens by masses that did 
 not present the same regular form or rounded outline. 
 In one instance an amorphous structure of tliis kind 
 gradually divided itself, and seemed in the course of 
 forming two cells, but the end of the process was un- 
 fortunately not seen. The annexed drawing will readily 
 
 7 
 
 lOS 
 
 Trachelius ovum (slightly flattened). 
 
 enable the animal to be recognised. It shows the mouth 
 very plainly, and a current of small particles moving 
 
136 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 towards it. The oesophagus terminates in a digestive 
 tube^ like the trunk of a tree, from which numerous 
 branches spring. This arrangement is probably analo- 
 gous to that of the phlebenterous moUusks described by 
 Qiiatrefages, in which the ramifications of the stomach 
 answer the purpose of arteries, and convey the nutrient 
 fluid to various parts of the body. It is also likely 
 that they minister to the function of respiration. 
 
 The cilia on the surface, which are arranged in 
 parallel lines, are best observed when the animal is 
 slightly flattened in a live-box ; but this process pro- 
 duces a considerable derangement in the relative position 
 of the internal parts, and they can only be well seen 
 when it is immersed in plenty of water, and is polite 
 enough to stand still, and submit his digestive economy 
 to a steady gaze. The only way to succeed in this 
 undertaking is to have a large stock of patience as well 
 as a convenient cell or trough. The table must be kept 
 steady, and the prisoner watched from time to time, 
 and at last he will be found ready for display. 
 
 Pritchard says this animal, whose name is Trachelius 
 ovum, is an inhabitant of stagnant bog water, and has 
 been found encysted. My specimens could not be 
 called plentiful, but for several weeks I could generally 
 find two or three, by filling a four-ounce vial from the 
 glass jar, and examining its contents with a pocket -lens. 
 If none were present, another dip was made, and usually 
 with success. 
 
 One evening I caught a good specimen by means of 
 the dipping-tube, and cautiously let it out, accompanied 
 by a drop of water, on the glass floor of the live-box. 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 137 
 
 A glance with the pocket-lens showed all was riglit, and 
 the cover was very gently put on, but it had scarcely 
 touched the creature when it became crumpled up and 
 in confusion. On one or two former occasions I had 
 been unfortunate enough to give my captives a squeeze 
 too much, with the usual result of a rupture of their 
 integuments and an escape of globules and lluids from 
 the regions wdtliin. Now, however, there was no such 
 rupture and no such escape, but instead of a smooth, 
 comely surface, ray Trachelius had lost all title to his 
 specific designation, ovum, for instead of bearing any 
 resemblance to an Q^g, it was more like an Irishman's 
 hat after having a bit of a "shindy" at Donnybrook 
 Fair. 
 
 I was greatly puzzled with this aspect of things, and 
 still more so when my deranged specimen twirled and 
 bumped about with considerable velocity, and in all 
 directions. Presently a decided constriction appeared 
 about half-way below the mouth antl proboscis, and in 
 transverse direction. The ciliary motion became very 
 violent in the lower half just below the constriction, 
 while the proboscis worked hard to make its half go 
 another way. For some minutes there was a tug uf war, 
 and at length away went proboscis witli Ins portion, 
 still much crumpled by the fight, and left tlir other 
 bit to roam at will, gradually smooth his puckers, 
 and assume the appearance of a respectable well-to-do 
 animalcule. 
 
 Three hours after the " fission " the proboscis half 
 was not unlike the former self of the late " entire," but 
 with diminished body and larger neck ; while the re- 
 
138 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 maining portion had assumed a flask form, and would 
 not have been known by his dearest acquaintance. The 
 portraits of the dis-United States were quickly taken^ 
 
 
 60 
 
 Traehelius ovum, three hours after division. 
 
 andj as bed-time had arrived, they were left to darkness 
 and themselves. The next morning a change had come 
 over the " spirit of their dream.^^ Both were quiet, or 
 sedately moving, and they were nearly alike. The 
 proboscis fellow had increased and rounded his body, 
 and diminished his nose; while Mr. Flask had grown 
 round also, and evinced an intention of cultivating a 
 proboscis himself. Twenty-seven hours after the 
 separation, both had made considerable progress in 
 arranging and developing their insides, which had been 
 thrown into great confusion by the way in which the 
 original animal had been wrenched in half, and in both 
 a granular mass was forming opposite the mouth end. 
 The proboscis portion, which may perhaps be termed 
 the mother, was more advanced than her progeny, but 
 both had a great deal to do if they meant to exhibit the 
 original figure, and develope a set of bowels as elegantly 
 branched. Whether they would have succeeded or not 
 under happier circumstances I cannot tell^ but unfor- 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life. 139 
 
 tunately the Fate who carries the scissors cut short tlicir 
 days. 
 
 In all other animalcules in which I had ohscrvcd tlie 
 process of multiplication by solf-division, it seemed to 
 go on smoothly, and with no discomfort to either the 
 dividend or the quotient, and it may he that in the 
 fission of the Traclielius ovum I witnessed what the 
 doctors would call a bad case. Indeed it may have 
 been prematurely brought on, and aggravated by the 
 squeeze in -the live-box. It is, however, proi)able, from 
 the stronger texture and greater organic development 
 of this animalcule, that it does not divide so easily as 
 the softer and simpler kinds. 
 
 Frequent examination of this animalcule has created 
 a strong doubt in my mind whether it is rightly placed 
 in our " systems.'^ My own impression is that it 
 belongs to a higher class. ' 
 
140 Marvels of Pond- Life. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 HE creatures described in the preceding pages 
 range from very simple to highly complicated 
 forms, and in describing them some attention 
 has been paid to the general principles of classification. 
 The step is a wide one from the little masses of living 
 jelly that constitute Amosbse to the Rotifers^ supplied 
 with organs of sensation — eyes^ feelers (calcars), and the 
 long cilia in the Floscularians, which seem to convey 
 impression like the whiskers of a cat — together with 
 elaborate machinery for catching, grinding up, and 
 digesting their prey, and which are also well furnished 
 with respiratory and excretory apparatus, ovaries, &c. 
 In the polypi and polyzoa may be observed those 
 resemblances in appearance which induced early natura- 
 lists to group them together, and also the wide dif- 
 ference of organization which marks the higher rank 
 to which the lajtter have attained. Amongst the ciliated 
 infusoria important gradations and differences will also 
 be noticed, some having only one sort of cilia, others 
 two sorts, and others, again, supplied, in addition to 
 cilia, with hooks and styles. No perfectly satisfactory 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 1 1 1 
 
 classification of the infusoria has yet been devised, and 
 the life history of a great many is still very imperfectly 
 known ^ On the wliole, the tcndencv of research is to 
 place many of them higher than they used to stand 
 after Ehrenberg's supposition of their having a plurality 
 of distinct stomachs, &c., "was given up. i5all)iani and 
 others have shown numerous cases of their forming 
 their eggs by a process analogous to that of liighcr 
 animals. Some really are, and others closely resemble, 
 the larval conditions of creatures higher in the scale, and 
 the contracted vesicle with its channel bears resemblance 
 to what is called the "water vascular system '* of 
 worms. 
 
 Zoological classification depends very much on mor- 
 phology, that is, the tracing of particular structures, 
 or parts, through all their stages, from the lowest to the 
 highest forms in which they are exhibited. In this 
 way the swimming bladder of a fish is shown to be a 
 rudimentary lung, though it has no respiratory func- 
 tions, and Mr. Kitchen Parker has found in the imper- 
 fect skull of the tadpole a rudimentary appearance of 
 bones belonging to the human ear. The comparative 
 anatomist, after a wide survey of the objects before 
 him, arranges them into groups. He asks what arc the 
 characteristic things to be affirmed concerning all the A's 
 that cannot be said of all the B's; or of all the C's that 
 marks their difference from the A's or the D's. Careful 
 investigation upon these methods shows aftinitics where 
 they were not previously expected— birds and reptdes 
 being close relations, for example, instead of distant 
 connections— and they lessen the value for purposes of 
 
142 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 classification of peculiarities that might have been 
 deemed of the highest importance. 
 
 Professor Huxley divides the vertebrates into Ithy- 
 coiDS, comprising fishes and amphibia, which, besides 
 other characteristics, have gills at some period of their ex- 
 istence; Saurotds (reptiles and birds), which have no 
 gills, and possess certain developmental characteristics in 
 common ; and, lastly, Mammals. The Insecta, Myrio- 
 poda, Arachnidse, and Crustacea, he remarks, " without 
 doubt present so many characters in common as to 
 form a very natural assemblage. All are provided 
 with articulated limbs attached to a segmented body 
 skeleton, the latter, like the skeleton of the limbs, 
 being an ' exoskeleton,' or a bordering of that layer 
 which corresponds with the outer part of the verte- 
 brates. In others, at any rate in the embryonic con- 
 dition, the nervous system is composed of a double 
 chain of ganglia, united by longitudinal commissures, 
 and the gullet passed between two of these commissures. 
 No one of the members of these four classes is known 
 to possess vibratile cilia. The great majority of these 
 animals have a distinct heart, provided with valvular 
 apertures, which are in communication with a peri- 
 visceral cavity containing corpusculated blood.^"* These 
 four classes have constituted the larger group or 
 *^ province'' of Articulata or Arthropoda. Professor 
 Huxley thinks that, notwithstanding " the marked dif- 
 ferences'' between the Annelida (worms) and the pre- 
 ceding Arthropods (joint-foots), their resemblances out- 
 weighing them — '' the characters of the nervous system, 
 and the frequently segmented body, with imperfect 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life. 113 
 
 lateral appendages of the Annelida, necessitates tlieir 
 assemblage with the Arthropoda in one great division, 
 or sub-kingdom, of Annulosa. 
 
 Tracing analogies between the Echinoderrnata (sea 
 urchins, star-fish, &c.) and the Seolecida (intestinal 
 worms), he places them together as Annii/oida. 
 
 Cephalopoda, Pteropoda, Pul mo-gasteropoda, and 
 Branch io-gasteropoda, having resemblances of nervous 
 system, and '^ all possessing that remarkable buccal 
 apparatus, the Odontophore,'' are placed together by 
 him asOnoNTOPHORA. TheOdontophores (tooth-bearers) 
 are familiar to microseopists as the so-called palates of 
 mollusca. Placing with the above the lamelliljranchial 
 mollusks (moUusks with gills formed of lanielhe or 
 little plates), Aseidioida (ascidians), 15rachiopoda (lamp- 
 sheds), and Polyzoa, in spite of their diirereuccs, he 
 forms another great group, Annuloida. 
 
 The Actinozoa (anemonies, &c.) and the Ilydrozoa 
 (polyps) constitute the Cq:lentera of Frey and Leuekart. 
 " In all these animals,'''' says Professor Huxley, " the 
 substance of the body is differentiated into those histo- 
 loerical elements which have been termed cells, and the 
 latter are previously disposed in two layers, one external 
 and one internal, constituting the ectoderm and cndo- 
 derm. Among animals which possess this histological 
 structure the Coclenterata stand alone in havin*,' an 
 alimentary canal, which is open at its inner end and 
 communicates freely by this aperture with the general 
 cavity of the body,'' and '' all (unless the C'tenophora 
 should prove a partial exception to the rule) are i)rovidcd 
 with very remarkable organs of oflencc or defence, 
 
144 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 called thread-cells or nematocysts/^ In describing the 
 Polyps we have given illustrations of these weapons. 
 
 The remaining classes^ which have been roughly 
 associated as Protozoa, must evidently be rearranged. 
 Sponges^ Rhizopods (Amoebse, &c.), and Gregarines^ 
 have strong resemblances, but recent researches 
 may place the former higher. The Infusoria compre- 
 hend creatures too various to remain under one head, 
 and very many of them too highly organized to be 
 called ^^protozoons/' or first life-forms. 
 
 Those who wish to pursue this subject further may 
 consult Professor Huxley^s ' Elements of Comparative 
 Anatomy/ from which the preceding quotations have 
 been taken. 
 
 A system of classification founded upon anatomical 
 and developmental considerations frequently differ con- 
 siderably from one we might arrive at if all the crea- 
 tures were arranged according to the perfection of their 
 faculties and the extent and accuracy of their relations 
 to the external world. Such a classification would not 
 in any way supersede the former, but it would prove 
 very instructive and offer many valuable suggestions. 
 Some years since, Professor Owen proposed to divide the 
 Vertebrates according to the perfection of their brains, 
 but other anatomists did not find his divisions sufii- 
 ciently coincident with facts. Very little has been done 
 towards an exact science of human phrenology. The 
 difficulties remain pretty much as they were many years 
 ago, and our comparative phrenology, if we may use such 
 a term, is in a very imperfect state. When we come to 
 the lower animals we do not know what peculiarities 
 
Marvels of Pond-Life. 1 15 
 
 of the brain of an ant make it the recipient of a liiglicr 
 instinct, or give its possessor greater capacities for 
 dealing with new and unexpected diniculties than are 
 possessed by most other insects, and if any reader has 
 a marine aquarium, and will make a few exi)erinients 
 in taming prawns, and watching their proceedings, lie 
 will discover symptoms of intelligence beyond what the 
 structure of the creature would have led him to expect. 
 
 Animals usually possess some one leading cliarac- 
 teristic to which their general structure is subordinated. 
 Man stands alone in having tlie whole of his organiza- 
 tion conformed to the demands of a thinking, ruling 
 •brain. To pass at once to the other extreme, we 
 observe in the lower infusoria a restless locomotion, 
 probably subservient to respiration, but utterly in- 
 consistent with a well developed life of relation, or 
 with manifestations of thought. The life of an ani- 
 malcule may be summed up as a brief and restricted, 
 but vigorous organic energy, and if the amount of 
 change which a single creature can make in the ex- 
 ternal world, is inconceivably small, the labours of the 
 entire race alter the conditions of a prodigious amount 
 of matter. Microscopic vegetable life is an important 
 agent in purifying water from the taint of decomposing 
 organisms. By evolving oxygen it brings putrescent 
 particles under the iniiuencc of a species of conil)ustion, 
 which, though slow, is as effectual as tliat which a 
 furnace could accomplish. In this way minute moulds 
 burn up decaying wood. 
 
 Microscopic animal life helps the regenerative pro- 
 cess; and, together with the minute vcgetabU' life, 
 
 10 
 
146 Marvels of Pond-Life. 
 
 restores to tlie organic system myriads of tons of 
 matter, which death and decay would have handed 
 over to the inorganic world. In a very small pond 
 or tank the quantity of this kind of work is soon 
 appreciable, and if we reflect on the amazing amount 
 of water all over the globe, including seas and oceans, 
 which swarm with infusoria, the total effect produced in 
 a single year must seem considerable, even when com- 
 pared with that portion of the earth^s crust that is 
 subject to alteration from all other causes put together. 
 If we add to the labour of the Infusoria those of other 
 creatures whose organization can only be discovered 
 by the microscope, and take in the foraminifera, polyps, 
 polyzoa, &c., we shall have to record still larger obli- 
 gations to minute forms of living things. The coral 
 polyp builds reefs that constitute the chief characteristic 
 - of certain regions in the Pacific ; foraminifera are 
 forming or helping to form strata of considerable 
 extent, while diatoms are making deposits many feet in 
 thickness, composed of myriads of their silicious shells, 
 or adding their contributions of silex, very large in 
 the aggregate, to all sedimentary rocks. Testimony of 
 this kind of work is found by the navigator who 
 examines the ice in arctic seas, and it comes up with 
 soundings from the ocean depths. 
 
 On the surface of the earth the amount of change 
 produced is equally remarkable, although it leaves less 
 permanent traces behind. As a rule no decomposition 
 of organized matter takes place, no death of plants or 
 animals, without infusorial life making its appearance, 
 and disposing of no small portion of the spoil. Even 
 
Marvels of Pond- Life. 147 
 
 in our climate the mass of matter tlius annuallv 
 aflfected is very large ; but what must it not Ijc in 
 moist tropical lands, where every particle seems alive, 
 and the race of life and death gjoes on at a speed, and 
 to an extent scarcely conceivable by tliose who have 
 not witnessed it. 
 
 Thus, if we look at the world of minute forms which 
 the microscope reveals, there opens before us a apcc- 
 tacle of boundless extent. We see life manifested by 
 the specks of jelly containing particles not aggregated 
 into structure, and we see it gradually ascending in com- 
 plexities of organization. In creatures whose habits and 
 appearance seem most remote from our own, we find 
 the elementary developments of the organs and powers 
 that constitute our glory, and give us our power. Such 
 studies assist us to conceive of tlie universe as a 
 Cosmos, or Beautifully Organized AVholc ; and, al- 
 though we cannot tell the object for which a single 
 portion received its precise form, we trace everywhere 
 relations of structure to means of existence and en- 
 joyment, and are led to the conviction that all the 
 actions and arrangements of the organic or inorganic 
 worlds are due to a definite direction and co-ordination 
 of a few simple forces, which implicitly and unerringly 
 obey the dictates of an Omniscient Mind. 
 
 PlilNTED BY J. E. ADLAUD, BABTIIOLOMEW CL09B. 
 
Q^lCS A^^D ^my 
 
 llECEXTLY I'UBUSiLED 
 BY 
 
 GROOIVIBRIDGE AND SONS 
 
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 lU- THOMAS WPJGIIT, M.A., F.S.A. 
 
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 By SIDNEY CUliNER. 
 
 With Coloured Illustrations from Paintings bg the Author. 
 
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 BY T. MILLER. 
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 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap Svo, clotli gilt, Is. 
 
 " A capital little book for childi-en, both amusing ai.d instructive." — Licerj«>ct 
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 BY MRS. RUSSELL GRAY. 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. FooLcap Svo, cloth gilt, 1*. 
 
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 BY JULIA CORNER. 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap Svo, cloui -ut, i*. 
 
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 children, and affording real pleasure in their perusal to ' children of a larger 
 
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 the class." — Coventry Serald. 
 
 THE ORPHANS OF ELFHOLM ; and other stories. 
 
 BY FRANCES BROWNE. 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap Svo, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 " A Ijook to be prized by the yoimg, for its several tales are well written and 
 full of touching interest." — Citi/ Fress. 
 
 WHEN WE WERE YOUNG ; and other stories. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF "A TRAP TO CATCH A SUNBEAM." 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap Svo, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 " The precept of moral courage which it inculcates, coupled with its excellent 
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 NOT CLEVER; and other stories. 
 
 BY FRANCES M. WILBRAHAM. 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap Svo, cloth gilt, 1*. 
 " Pure in tone, full of interest, well got up, and cheap." — Hereford Times. 
 
 DEAR CHARLOTTE'S BOYS ; and other stories. 
 
 BY EMILY TAYLOR. 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap Svo, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
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 BY W. H. a. KINGSTON. 
 Illusti-ated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap Svo, cloth gilt, 1*. 
 
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 WHICH WAS THE BRAVEST? and other stories. 
 
 BY L. A. HALL. 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap 8vo, cloth gilt, 1*. 
 
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 book is excellent. The engravings are appropriate and pleasing." — Plymtomik 
 
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 THE CLOCKMAKER OF LYONS; and other stories. 
 
 BY E. M. PIPER. 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap 8vo, cloth gilt, l.f. 
 
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 BY MARY no WITT. 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings Foolscap Rvo, cloth gilt, l.». 
 
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 HISTORICAL DRAMAS. 
 
 BY THE AUTUOR OF "THE UKIR OF REnCLYFFE." 
 Illustrated witli 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap 8vo, cloth gilt. It. 
 
 " Combines nmusenient with in.stniction in a way that must plcaao U>o ri*Ing 
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 BY MES. GILCHRIST. 
 Illustrated with 15 Wood Engravings. Foolscap 8vo, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
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 RAINBOW'S REST; and other stories. 
 
 BY THOMAS HOOD. 
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 IJNION JACK. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. 
 
 TOWN OF TOYS. By Saea Wood. 
 
 NO MAN'S LAND. By T. Millee. 
 
 SEA SPLEENWORT. By Author of " The Heir of Redclyffe." 
 
 LOTTIE'S HALF-SOYEREIGN. By Mrs. Russell Gray. 
 
 THE SHEPHERD LORD. Bv Julia Coenee. 
 
 THE CAPTIVE'S DAUGHTER. By W. Heaed Hilly abd. 
 
 THE ORPHANS OF ELFHOLM. By Feances Beov^ne. 
 
 WHEN WE WERE YOUNG. By Author of " A Trap to Catch 
 
 a Sunbeam." 
 NOT CLEVER. By Feances M. Wil-deaham. 
 DEAR CHARLOTTE'S BOYS. Bv Emily Tayloe. 
 STORY OF NELSON. By W. H.'G. Kingston. 
 BLIND URSULA. By Mrs. Webb. 
 SEA-SHELL ISLAND. By G. E. Saegent. 
 WHICH WAS THE BRAVEST? Bv L. A. Hall. 
 THE CLOCKMAKER OF LYONS. By E. M. Pipee. 
 THE ANGEL UNAWARES. By Maey Howitt. 
 HISTORICAL DRAMAS. Bv Author of " The Heir of Redclyffe." 
 LOST IN THE WOOD. Bv'Mrs. Gilcheist. 
 RAINBOW'S REST. By Thomas Hood. 
 
 Enclosed in a Box, 20s. 
 
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 others lessons in natural history, and most of them convey a healthy moral in- 
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GROOMBRIDGE'S SHIllING PRACTICA!, MANUALS, 
 
 ^acJi Book sent post-free on receipt of the price. 
 
 1. HOME-MADE WINES. How to Make and Keep 
 
 them, with remarks on j)ropariiiij; iIk; Iruil, liiiiiiif, l)c.iilm^, 
 and storinpf. By G. Vine. Contains Api)lc, Apricot, Hocr, 
 Bilberry, Blackberry, Cherry, Clary, Cowslip, Currant. Diim- 
 Ron, Elderberry, Gooseberry, (J in p^er,r; rape, Grconpi^e, Lemon, 
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 2. CARVING MADE EASY ; or, Practical Instnic- 
 
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 Flesh, and Fowl, and appropriate instructions, whereby a 
 complete and skilful knowledj^c of the useful art of Carvinp; 
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 observed. By A. ^^fKRUYTiiouGHT. 
 
 3. COTTAGE COOKERY. Containing" Simple Instruc- 
 
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 Utensils, Choice of Provisions, Modes of Cookinp, Stews, 
 Soups, Broths, Puddings, Pies, Fat, Pastry, Vegetables, Mo<los 
 of Dressing Meat, Bread, Cakes, Buns, Salting or Curing Meat, 
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 4. COTTAGE FARMING; or, How to Cultivate from 
 
 Two to Twenty Acres, including the Management of Cows, 
 Pigs, and Poultry. By Martin Doyle. Contains, On Enclo- 
 sing a Farm, Land Drainage, Mamires, Management of a 
 Two-acre Farm, Cow Keeping, The Dair}', Pig Keeping, l^ecs 
 and Poultry, Management of a Ten-acre Farm. Flax and Rape, 
 Management of a Farm of Twenty Acres, Farm Buildings, etc 
 
 5. SINGING MADE EASIER FOR AMATEURS, 
 
 explaining the pure Italian Method of Producing and Culti- 
 vating the Voice ; the Management of the Breath; the l>est 
 way of Improving the Ear; with much other valuable infor- 
 mation equally valuable to Professional Singers and Amateurs. 
 
 6. MARKET GARDENING, giving in detail^ the 
 
 various methods adopted by Gardeners in growing the Straw- 
 berry, Rhubarb, Filberts, Early Potatoes, As])aragus, 8ca 
 Kale, Cabbages, Cauliflowers, Celery, Beans, Peas, Brussels 
 Sprouts, Spinach, Radishes, Lettuce, Onions, Carrots, Turnipj?, 
 "Water Cress, etc. By James Cuthill, F.R.TI.S. 
 
 7. CLERK'S DICTIONARY OF COMMERCIAL 
 
 TERMS ; containing Explanations of upwards of Threo 
 Hundred Terms used in Business and ;^Ierchants• Ofliccs. 
 By the Author of "Common Blunders in S|)eaking and 
 
 Writing Corrected." 
 
 " An indispi usable book for all ynnnp men pntorin? a. ronntinp-hooM fbr th«« flr»t lim*.** 
 
 8. THE CAT, Its History and Diseases, with Method 
 
 of Administering INIedicino. Jiy the Honourable Lapt CtsT. 
 GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, 5, Paternoster Kow, London. 
 
GROOIBRIDGE'S SHILLING PRACTICAL MANUALS. 
 
 Each Booh sent post free for 12 stamps. 
 
 9. ELOCUTION MADE EASY for Clergymen, Public 
 
 Speakers, and Readers, Lecturers, Actors. Theatrical Ama- 
 teurs, and all who wish to speak well and eflPectivel}^ in Public 
 or Private. By Charles Ha_rtley. Contents: Cultivation 
 of the Speaking Voice, Management of the Yoice, Pausing, 
 Taking Breath, Pitch, Articulation, Pronunciation, The 
 Aspirate, The Letter B, Emphasis, Tone, Movement, Feeling 
 and Passion, Verse, Scriptural Readmg, Stammering and 
 Stuttering, Action, Acting, Reciting, etc. 
 
 10. ORATORY MADE EASY. A Guide to the Composi- 
 
 tion of Speeches. By Charles Hartley. Contents : Intro- 
 duction, Power of Art, Various Kinds of Oratory, Prepared 
 Speech, Constructing a Speech, Short Speeches, Command 
 of Language, Reading and Thinking, Style, Hasty Composi- 
 tion, Forming a Style, Copiousness and Conciseness, Diction 
 or Language, Purity and Propriety, Misapplied Words, 
 Monosyllables, Specific Terras, Variety of Language, Too 
 Great Care about Woi'ds, Epithets, Precision, Synonymes, 
 Perspicuity, Long and Short Sentences, Tropes and Figures, 
 Metaphor, Simile, etc. 
 
 11. THE GRAMMATICAL REMEMBRANCER; or, 
 
 Aids for correct Speaking, Writing, and Spelling, for Adults. 
 By Charles Hartley. Contents : Introduction, Neglect of 
 English Grammar, Divisions of Grammar, Parts of Speech, 
 The Article. The Silent H, ISTouns, Formation of the Plural, 
 Genders of Nouns, Cases of Nouns, Comparison of Adjectives, 
 Personal Pronouns, Relative Pronouns, Demonstrative Pro- 
 nouns, Regular and Irregular Verbs, Shall and Will, The Ad- 
 verb, Misapplication of Words, Division of Words, Capital 
 Letters, Rules for Spelling Double 1 and j7, A Short Syntax, 
 Punctuation, etc. 
 
 12. THE CANARY. Its History, Varieties, Manage- 
 
 ment, and Breeding, with Coloured Frontispiece. By Richard 
 Avis. Contains, History of the Canary, Varieties of the 
 Canary, Food and General Management, Cages, Breeding, 
 Education of the Young, Mules, Diseases, etc. 
 
 13. BIRD PRESERVING and Bird Mounting", and the 
 
 Preservation of Birds' Eggs, with a Chapter on Bird Catching. 
 By Richard Avis. 
 
 14. WINE GUIDE ; or. Practical Hints on the Pur- 
 
 chase and Management of Foreign Wines, their History, and 
 a complete catalogue of all those in present use, together with 
 remarks upon the treatment of Spirits, Bottled Beer, and 
 Cider. To which is appended Instructions for the Cellar, and 
 other information valuable to the Consumer as well as the 
 Dealer. By Frederick C. Mills. 
 
 GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, 5, Paterxcster Row, Londox. 
 
ELEGANT PRIZE OR GIFT BOOK FOR BOYS. 
 
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 RECREATIVE SCIENCE 
 
 A RECORD AND REMEMBRANCER OF INTELLECTUAL 
 
 OBSERVATION 
 
 IN EVERY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE. 
 
 AsTROXoMY, Chemistry, Botan-y, Geoloov, MFCHAitics, IfETBOROLooT. 
 Microscopy, Physiology, Zoology, etc., etc. 
 
 THE PROMINENT FEATURES OF RECREATIVE SCIEN'CE. 
 
 AiTLTCATioNS OF SCIENCE, including Photography and the Stereoscope. Elcctro- 
 Metallurgy, etc., with all their minute and re';r«»afiTe manipulations. 
 
 E.-SAYS ON THE RESULT OP SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, as witnesscd by the ciriJi- 
 
 zation of the Nineteenth Century, wliirli deriTts so much of its strength 
 and moral excellence from the Steam-Engine, the Elkctric TBLEORArn. 
 
 and other applitaiions of scientific principles. 
 
 IJinGRAPHIES OF EMINENT SCIENTIFIC MeN AND ANALYSIS OP OlP AND NrW 
 
 SciF.NTii'ic Books. 
 
 Illustrations of Natural PHENC.l<3!fA and Diagrams of Optiml, Mechanical, 
 and otlicr principles an rcquireii by the eut»jcct matter of the pnpors pub- 
 lished in the work. 
 
 Natural History occupies a prominent position among the various subject* 
 dealt with, including ^ome Recreations, of whicli the l<iTe of Nature 
 may be said to be the hasis. The ^Management of Collections of I -- • 
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 ment of Cabinets of Insects, Birds, Shells, Plants, etc., etc. 
 
 Experimental Philosopky and Recreations in CurMisTRY aro introduced 
 with a view to explain principles and give a zest to study. 
 
 "Recreative Science" is in all respects popular in tone and attmrtire in itt 
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 A Popular Description of some of the most Beautiful and Instructive 
 
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 With Directions for the Arrangement of the Instruments and the Collection 
 
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 By the Hott. Mrs. WAED. 
 
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 FOE 
 
 THE RAMBLING BOTANIST, 
 
 STJGGESTINa 
 
 What to Looe for a^td Wheee to Gro in the Ottt-dooe Stttdt of 
 
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 By SHIRLEY HIBBERD, F.R.H.S. 
 
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 OE, 
 
 FEEN CULTURE MADE EASY. 
 By SHIRLEY HIBBERD, F.R.H.S. 
 
 contents. 
 
 Feens in Geneeal 
 
 Feen Collecting 
 
 How to foem an Otttdoob 
 
 Feeneey 
 Cultivation of Rock Ferns 
 Cultivation of Maesh Feens 
 Feens in Pots 
 The Feen House 
 The Feeneey at the Fieeside 
 
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 The Aet of Multiplying Feens 
 Beitish Feens 
 Cultivation of Geeenhousb 
 
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 Select Stove Feens 
 Teee Ferns 
 Feen Allies 
 
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 By SUIRLEY UIBBERD, F.R.il.S. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 TuE Families of Wild Roses 
 
 The Families of Cultivated 
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 Sl^mmee Roses 
 
 FoicMiNG the Rosaeium 
 
 CuLTUEE OF Roses in tue Open 
 Geound 
 
 Autumn Planting 
 
 ^ipuiNO Planting 
 
 Peumng, Disbudding, and Sea- 
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 PiLLAE ROSK8 
 
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 RosKs IN Gukat Towns 
 
 Tea Roses in Town.-* 
 
 Vauious Modes oy I'uoiaoatino 
 
 Selkct Lists of Ro-^ks 
 
 Rkmindkus of Mo.ntuly WokK 
 
 IN RosK Gaudkh 
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 THEIR NATURE, STRUCTURE, AND USES 
 FAMILIARLY EXPLAINED. 
 
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NEW EDITION OF THE WOKKS 
 
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 JLHSriNf^L LISLE. 
 
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 INTEEESTING ANECDOTES. 
 
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