484 THE CYCLOPS. 



OAR-FOOTED ENTOMOSTR AC AN S ; COPEPOD^E. 



THE above term is chosen for this order of crustaceans because their five pairs of feet are 

 mostly used for swimming. The body is divided into several rings, the cuirass covers both 

 the head and thorax, and the mouth is furnished with foot-jaws. 



In the family of the Cyclopidse the head and body are merged together with the first ring 

 of the thorax. There are two pairs of foot-jaws, and the fifth pair of legs are very minute. 



A species called Cyclops quadricornis is very common in every pond and ditch, and the 

 female may at once be recognized by the little egg-bags which she bears on the sides of the 

 abdomen, like John Gilpin's wine-bottles at his belt. The color of this species is exceedingly 

 variable, differing according to the locality where the creature happens to reside. It is mostly 

 white, but some individuals are brown, others greenish, while a few are red. Both salt and 

 fresh water are inhabited by the CYCLOPS, and some of the marine species are so highly 

 luminous, that they add in no slight degree to the phosphorescence of the ocean. 



Canthocamptus minutus is the name given to a very little species. It is a creature with a 

 long abdomen, which it is able to turn over its back, something after the fashion of the earwig 

 or the cocktail beetles. In this Canthocamptus the thorax and abdomen are merged into each 

 other, and gradually diminish in size to the extremity. All the species belonging to this 

 genus have very small and simple foot-jaws. It inhabits ponds and ditches of fresh water. 

 Mr. Tuffen West tells me that a short time ago he was examining some of the slime that had 

 gathered upon the roof of the Cramlington Pit, at a vast depth from the surface, and that he 

 found in the slime some of these minute crustaceans quite brisk and lively, whisking their 

 tails up and down smartly. These creatures must have been washed down the pit while still 

 unhatched, and have been thus carried down from the open air into the bowels of the earth. 



Another creature of the same genus is termed Cetochilus septentrionalis. Though very 

 small, not more than the sixth or seventh of an inch in length, it is of exceeding importance 

 to commerce, as it affords food to the herring, several whales, and other valuable beings. In 

 the seas where this little creature lives, whole tracts are reddened with the multitude of their 

 hosts, which swarm near the surface and congregate in such vast numbers, that the wind has 

 been known to catch up a whole bank of them, like a wave, and fling it into the vessel, 

 covering the deck and the sailors with their bodies. The codfish feeds largely and luxuri- 

 ously upon these abundant creatures, needing not to take any pains about them, but 

 swimming lazily through their masses and opening its mouth, into which they pass without 

 the least trouble. 



The long antennae are used as oars, being thrown backward at every stroke until their 

 tips touch each other. This attitude, however, is only assumed while the creature is in 

 haste, as it is often seen to pass gently through the water, with its antennae at right 

 angles to the body. 



Dr. Sutherland, in his "Voyage to Baffin's Bay," writes of these elegant little beings: 

 "They are always on the alert to elude and escape from their pursuers. When the water is 

 but slightly agitated, they dive from the surface, and in a few minutes, when it becomes still, 

 they can be seen ascending slowly, but rarely using the antennae. I could only obtain 

 specimens by including them in a large quantity of water taken up suddenly, from which they 

 could be separated subsequently by straining through a calico bag. A bucketful (two gallons) 

 of water often produced twenty to thirty individuals, and sometimes twice that number. 

 They never survived a single night, even though kept in their native element in a vessel. From 

 their constant darting from side to side of the vessel, perhaps it is a safe inference that the 

 fear of danger in their new situation may be one of the chief causes of the early extinction of 

 life." 



The color of this species is light red, and the body is nearly translucent. 



Another curious species deserves a word of mention. This is the Notodelphys ascidicola, 

 which is found swimming in the bronchial sac of the ascidia. 



