HA RD WICKE ' 5 SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



173 



continental work, probably Ehrenberg's, has only a 

 very distant resemblance to the original. 



It gives me therefore much pleasure to submit a 

 sketch from life of this handsome Rotiferon, with a 

 short description of its structure. 



In size, structure of ciliary wreath and general 

 appearance Asplanchna myrmelco greatly resembles 

 A. Brightwellii, only that it has a small two-toed 

 foot on the ventral side of the bag-like body, which 

 is its most characteristic peculiarity. The ciliary 

 wreath is not continuous, but interrupted, forming 

 eight strongly ciliated patches round the edge of 

 the corona ; within are seen two tubular sense- 

 organs, furnished with a tuft of setae. There is one 

 single eye seated on the dorsal side of the brain mass, 

 from the brain two fine nervous threads run down- 

 wards to the rocket-shaped dorsal antenna?. 



The jaws are sharply pointed pincers and not 

 serrated. The long delicate oesophagus leads to a 

 large thick-walled stomach, which is a blind sack 

 held in position by some fine muscular threads 

 attached to the wall of the body below. There is 

 certainly no intestine or cloaca, and the animal is 

 therefore a true Asplanchna. 



Several of them had swallowed small water-fleas 

 {Chydorus sphccricus), the empty shells of which I have 

 seen ejected by the mouth. One of the water-fleas 

 was of considerable size, and the stomach was well 

 stretched over it, which enabled me to note that the 

 wall appears to consist of a single layer of large and 

 thick, brownish cells, densely ciliated on the inner 

 surface, and each having a clear shining nucleus. 



Immediately above the stomach, and attached to 

 the oesophagus, are two large gastric glands, each of 

 which is double. 



The ovary is a very large horseshoe -shaped struc- 

 ture, very broad and flat at the ends ; attached to the 

 middle of the ovary is always a maturing ovum, of 

 varying size, but I have never seen a fully formed 

 young, as is so often the case with the other 

 Asplanchnse, although I have seen many individuals 

 and observed them for several days. It appears 

 therefore probable, that the eggs are expelled and 

 left to develop outside. 



From the ovary a very thin-walled oviduct leads to 

 an opening just above the foot. 



The muscular system is normal ; four broad bands 

 arise from the head and are attached low down to the 

 sides of the body wall, and a number of very fine 

 threads keep the various organs in position ; five or 

 six fine muscular threads encircle the body trans- 

 versely, and a broad band of loosely connected, 

 elongated muscular cells surround the neck region. 



The contractile vesicle is very large and of usual 

 structure, situated immediately behind the foot ; two 

 sets of lateral canals arise from it and end in the 

 region of the head ; they are convoluted in two 

 places, and branched, or double, part of the way ; 

 vibratile tags are numerous, but appear to exist only 



where the canals are double, and then only on one of 

 them. 



The foot is very small in proportion to the size of 

 the animal, and situated in the ventral angle of the 

 body, but sometimes its position is much higher up ; 

 it is retractile and has two small toes, by means of 

 which it can, and does, attach itself occasionally to 

 foreign objects. The foot has four retractor muscles, 

 two attached to the head, and two fixed laterally to 

 the sides of the body ; in the interior of the foot is 

 seen a large oval gland. Every time the head is drawn 

 in, the foot is driven out with a rush, by the pressure 

 of the fluid within the body cavity. 



Size of female is ^ in. to ^ in., found in a pond at 

 Staines. The male has not yet been seen. 



It is strange that this large and conspicuous Rotifer, 

 which can easily be seen with the naked eye, has so 

 long escaped detection in England, where a whole 

 army of microscopists explore almost every pond in 

 the country during the summer months. Perhaps also 

 it has been seen and not recognised, from want of a 

 published figure and description. 



I much regret that Messrs. Hudson and Gosse have 

 not made their fine work complete by including therein 

 "all" the known species, whether found in England 

 or elsewhere. The distribution of these minute 

 creatures is so very wide, that every species is almost 

 sure to be found in England sooner or later, and a 

 "complete" monograph of the class would very 

 greatly assist in finding and identifying them. 

 Perhaps this may ultimately be remedied by the issue 

 of a supplementary part. 



July yd, \i 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES IN NORWAY. 



By WlLLOUGHBY GARDNER. 



ON the 4th of July last year, I sailed in the good 

 ship "St. Sunniva," from Leith, for a ten 

 days' holiday in Norway ; the weather, unlike that 

 in England, had been very wild and wet over the 

 greater part of Scandinavia for two or three weeks, 

 but the meteorological reports foreshadowed a rising 

 barometer in the north, and we started with most 

 brilliant anticipation, which was very fully realised. 

 Although I formed one of a party of friends for the 

 most part without particular scientific instincts, I 

 looked forward to in indulging in a little natural 

 history, if possible, by the way, and therefore went 

 provided with blotting paper, for pressed plants, and 

 sundry small boxes, and butterfly net, for insects. It 

 turned out, however, that with as much sight-seeing 

 as we could possibly do every day amidst the glorious 

 scenery of the western fjords, there was little spare 

 time for collecting of any kind, and these notes are 

 therefore unfortunately but very meagre ; such as 

 they are though, I trust they may be of interest. 

 Norway is a country with a very remarkable 



