INTRODUCTION. 



It is sincerely hoped that the publication of this work 

 will arouse an interest in the examination and study 

 of the simple and beautiful organisms which it describes. 

 It is seldom that a person can take up any study in natural 

 history, and follow it in a satisfactory manner without 

 access to many large and expensive books of reference. 

 Until the publication of Professor Joseph Leidji's work, 

 "The Fresh-water Rhizopods of North America," by 

 the United States Government, this was equally true of 

 the fresh-water Rhizopods, but now that difficulty has 

 been entirely removed, and the student will find all the 

 necessary information about the habits and forms of these 

 organisms in that single volume. As an introduction 

 to the study, this work will, it is hoped, be highly 

 valued by those who cannot obtain the larger one, which, 

 being a Government publication, will necessarily be 

 limited in its distribution. 



There is a broad field for valuable, original investigation 

 in the study of the Rhizopods. We know comparative- 

 ly little about their modes of reproduction and propaga- 



