170 DROPS OF WATER. 



grain is opened and placed in water, then thou- 

 sands of these minute creatures make their ap- 

 pearance, and after some time revive, and swim 

 about. I have tried this with corn four years 

 old ; there is, therefore, nothing unlikely in the 

 statement that the Eotifer may revive after being 

 apparently dried for a length of time. 



Actinurus Neptunius (Drop IV. fig. 12). This 

 extraordinary and elegant creature greatly re- 

 sembles the Eotifer vnlgaris, but is easily distin- 

 guished by the extreme length and wonderful for- 

 mation of its tail, which, when at the full stretch, 

 has a most striking appearance. The joints shut 

 one within the other, like the tube of a telescope, 

 and this action the animalcule is constantly re- 

 peating when searching for food : it fixes the tail 



