28t*> Transactions of the Society. 



by accidents to the railway, once for about two days, and again for 

 a few hours. Both delays happened beside lakes ; and there would 

 have been opportunity to collect plankton Eotifera, but my last 

 plankton-net had been torn at Honolulu. The moss-dwelling 

 Eotifera were studied to some extent, but the train did not offer 

 great facilities for microscoping, the Microscope having to stand on 

 a yielding cushioned seat. At Ottawa and Montreal I had a few 

 hours in the public parks, and found plenty of moss at Ottawa, but 

 none at Montreal. 



Historical Sketch. — Canadian Eotifera have no history. I 

 know but two works where they are even mentioned : Eichters, 

 1908 (35)* notes Callidinm in Vancouver, but no species were 

 identified; Bousselet, 1909 (37), says that the Eotifera of the 

 Dominion are quite unknown. I have made no search through 

 the publications of Canadian scientific societies, relying on the 

 statement of Eousselet, who knows the Rotifer literature so 

 well. 



Over the border, a great deal has been written about the 

 Eotifera of the U.S.A. As none but Bdelloida were collected in 

 Canada, only those works are noted which deal with that order. 



I have notes of about fifty works in which Bdelloida are 

 mentioned. Less than a dozen of these are of any importance as 

 faunistic studies ; the others are either studies of development or 

 notes of pond-life and exhibits of species (generally R. vulgaris) at 

 the meetings of microscopical societies. The most important 

 works are those of Kellicott and Jennings. All the works are 

 included in the Bibliography, but only those are referred to in this 

 sketch which add something to the knowledge of the American 

 Eotifer fauna. 



The first record of a Eotifer in America is by Bosc, 1802 (3). 

 As Ehrenberg identified Bosc's animal, first as R. vulgaris, then as 

 C. rediviva, we may reasonably entertain doubt as to what it was. 



Bailey, 1850 (2), noted six species, two of them new species, 

 badly described. 



Kellicott, in 1888 (22), recorded seven species (one new, 

 C. socialis) ; in 1892 (23) he added R. elongatus, and in 1896 (24) 

 gave a list of nine species. 



Jennings, in 1894 (18), gave a list of eleven species; in 1896 

 (19), fourteen species ; in 1900 (20), twenty-two species ; and in 1901 

 (21), twenty-one species. 



( !raig, 1896 (6), is stated in the key by H. S. M., 1902 (29), to 

 have found a Philodina socialis, which may be meant as a synonym 

 for C. socialis Kell. 



The latest addition to the American Bdelloid fauna is Bryce's 

 Scephanotrocha rubra, 1910 (,£), collected by Dr. Latham of Chicago. 



* The figures in brackets refer to the .Bibliography at the end of paper. 



