CROWN ANIMALCULE, 



129 



Fig. 90. 



are beautifully feathered 



with cilia, and are 



capable of being folded 



up like the petals of a 



tulip. All the active 



functions of life may 



be seen in operation 



through the transparent, 



gelatinous envelope in 



which this creature is 



enclosed. Although 



fixed to one place, its 



maelstrom-like currents 



swirl into its fate-like 



grasp crowds of active 



little infusoria. The 



power of sudden con- 



tractility possessed by 



all these sessile rotifers 



is very remarkable. As 



you witness the with- 



drawal or collapse of 



the ciliated arms you 



are almost startled, and 



dart back from the tube 



of the microscope which 



is revealing the fact, as 



if a gun had been fired The Crown Animalcule ^ tephano . 



near you ! Even some of 



ceros 



