8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



seen actively swimming in the water, but a few draws of a small 

 net amongst the leaves revealed their enormous numbers, and 

 proved them to be a little Ostracod, Cypris kevis, (Miiller). 



After a careful examination of the surface of one of the mutilated 

 leaves, along with the contents of the net, no other animal was 

 seen, with the exception of two minute insects, which left little 

 doubt that if the plant was suffering from the attacks of animals 

 in the water, they must be these Ostracoda that swarmed around 

 it in such multitudes. 



On holding the leaf up between me and the light, I perceived 

 that it was pierced like a sieve with very small holes, not all 

 straight through, but obliquely. This will be seen in the specimen 

 I now hand round, by holding it against the light, and slightly 

 turning it from one angle to another, when at each change 

 of position an additional batch of perforations comes into view, 

 and when held at arm's length a still greater increase of 

 punctures is seen. 



On a closer examination of these holes they were found to 

 consist of different sizes, but the great majority were of the 

 smallest size, and these appeared to be the most smooth, without 

 any apparent change in the surrounding structure of the plant. 

 The larger holes, on the other hand, had the tissues of the margins 

 less or more altered, and, as they became larger, this change of 

 texture became more visible. 



That the innumerable holes in the leaves are first made by 

 Cypris Icevis, that swarms so abundantly in the water of the tank, 

 is greatly strengthened by the fact that the newly made perforations 

 correspond in size to the adult of that animal. 



On further examination I found three or four egg-like bodies 

 agglutinated in the top of the holes, and these were in every case 

 in the small smooth holes that had the appearance of having been 

 lately perforated. By freeing a few of tliese egg-like bodies from 

 their glutinous nidus, and subjecting them to the microscope, they 

 were seen to be young Ostracoda, and so far as likeness to parent 

 could be trusted at that age, there could be little doubt they were 

 that of Cypris Icevis. 



Another conclusive fact given by ]\Ir Bullen, curator of the 

 gardens, further confirms the statement that tlie plant suffia-cd 

 greatly from these insects. He says that shortly after I had 

 been with him in the month of June, these animals increased 



