200 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



were being held by their flagella in the circulating 

 protoplasm of the filaments. Numbers of Bacteria 

 and minute monads were lying perfectly still in the 

 vicinity of the web of Biomyxa, apparently dead. 



Biomyxa vagans — as I have termed it, because I 

 consider the organism found by me identical with 

 the one described by Leidy at page 2S1 et seq., of 

 his work on the ' Fresh-water Rhizopods of North 

 America ' — was discovered by me in a glass bowl of 

 water and weeds (Anacharis and Vallisneria), taken 

 from the (ank on the Calcutta Maidan, which is 

 known as General's Tank. The water was drawn on 

 the 1st February. On the 22nd of the month, I had 

 roughly teazed out a decaying leaf of Anacharis with 

 needles, and was searching over the slide for 



finding another like it. I should add that the water 

 in the bowl in question has been always rich in 

 Heliozoa, Difflugise {D. pyriformis, D. aciunmata, D. 

 corona), Arcellx, and Amoebce of various kinds, among 

 which last A, princeps, A. radiosa, A. Umax, and 

 A. giittula have already been identified. 



The accompanying sketches have been made from 

 the organism direct, with the aid of Beck's vertical 

 camera. At nine o'clock, or a little after, the organism 

 presented the appearance delineated in fig. 177. Its ex- 

 tensions already spread considerably beyond the sheet 

 of paper used for the drawing, and had commenced 

 to anastomose. The organism varied in form from 

 moment to moment ; and hence, while the figures were 

 being sketched under the camera, portions already 



X 250 







Fig. 176. — Biomyxa vagans. 



organisms, supplying the loss by evaporation from 

 time to time, when I noticed an Entomostracan 

 lying temptingly still, and commenced to sketch it ; 

 while thus engaged, 1 detected a granular flow in 

 a delicate filament of protoplasm near the edge of the 

 field. This was quite two hours after the water had 

 been first placed under the cover-glass, and under 

 observation. Following up the flow of granules 

 along this filament (which I found anastomosed with 

 others in its course), I was presently led on to the 

 main central mass above described. This was a little 

 after nine o'clock in the morning. The organism was 

 under observation all day, and when it grew dark 

 towards evening, I washed it back into the bowl from 

 which it had been taken ; but though I have carefully 

 searched, I have not succeeded in recovering it, or in 



traced had altered slightly in contour, while those 

 actually under delineation had themselves doubtless 

 changed from the form they had at the instant the 

 sketch was commenced. At noon, or a little after, 

 the organism had obtained its fullest extension and 

 activity : it pervaded altogether four or five fields of 

 the microscope ; and I have endeavoured in fig. 176 to 

 delineate the anastomosis or interlacing of the proto- 

 plasmic filaments, using for this purpose two different 

 powers (fig. 176 X 250 ; fig. 179 X 370). At this time 

 I was able to trace the network through a complete 

 circuit in one direction — judging from the objects, 

 such as debris, etc., in the vicinity'; it was a develop- 

 ment of the main protoplasmic streams which enclose 

 the great mesh which bounds the clear space marked 

 A in fig. 177. Fig. 1 79 represents the protoplasmic 



