"236 Transactions of the Society. 



does not agree with the written description of same, which says the 

 foot and the toes together are more than twice the length of the 

 trunk. 



Dinocharis Collinsii Gosse. — A considerable number of what ap- 

 peared to be the above were for two or three weeks in January 

 1900 found along edges of pools in the Umzinto, but with this 

 difference : there were no spurs on any single specimen, nor were the 

 edges of the lorica as much serrated as is depicted in the illustration. 

 I also saw a solitary specimen taken from some marshy ground near 

 Maritzburg in May 1898. [This animal is now known as Polychsetus 

 Collinsii.— C. F. K] 



Scaridium longicaudum Ehrbg. — This I found in very con- 

 siderable numbers during the months of November, December, and 

 January, our summer months, of 1899 and 1900, and it is now 

 beginning to appear again, i.e. in September, still in the same spots 

 as before, near edges of pools in Umzinto river. The eye is not 

 adherent to the mastax, as believed by Hudson and Gosse. I had 

 many opportunities of observing these animals in various positions, 

 with bright white cloud illumination, under Zeiss 4 mm. apochromatic. 

 There is a distinct space between the eye and the mastax, alterable at 

 the animal's will ; and, under close pressure in the compressorium, the 

 mastax is twitched from side to side without in the slightest degree 

 moving the eye. S. longicaudum appears to love the light, con- 

 stantly appearing and reappearing on the field of view of the Microscope, 

 and basking in the sunlight over the water-weeds in shallow places of 

 the pools near the edges. 8. eudactylotum, on the contrary, seems 

 more partial to the shade. 



Scaridium eudactylotum Gosse. — In February 1899, in a de- 

 pression on a flat containing water left by a very heavy rain, I dis- 

 covered this rare rotifer under some long grass. Again, in April 

 1900, in the company of a young friend (Mr. Harcourt Tyrrell), this 

 rotifer was found, but in a very diffeient position, this time in some 

 slack water in the rocky bed of the Equeefa river, under long grass 

 and protected by a boulder from the rapidly running water. The 

 characteristics of these two species of Scaridium are so clear and 

 distinct, as given by Hudson and Gosse in their written description 

 and illustration, that we had no hesitation in identifying them. (In 

 the very same spot, a few months before, I found Synchseta 'pectinata.) 

 Again, in October, I found it on visiting the same spot. The trophi 

 are of tbe malleate type, with eight teeth in each uncus. The egg 

 is covered with spines. 



It is somewhat difficult to get 8. eudactylotum in the compres- 

 sorium to lie in a position favourable for the examination of the 

 mastax and eye. I tried eight or ten one day in succession before I 

 could get one to lie as I wanted it. There is a distinct space between 

 the mastax and the eye ; the mastax can be moved in a twitching 

 manner from side to side without in any degree affecting the eye, and 



