450 Rev. M. J. Berkeley on Gloionema paradoooum, 



suspended near the surface of the water on grasses and aquatic 

 plants. The threads were of considerable length, sometimes 

 invested with a transparent gelatinous sheath, sometimes 

 naked. They contained one or two rows of boat-shaped 

 bodies, y^^^ ^yths of an inch long, y ^f^ ^ths broad, with one ex- 

 tremity a little broader. The broad extremities all pointed 

 the same way, except by accidental circumstances a few had 

 become transverse. The threads, with their gelatinous sheath, 

 measured ynfo^^^ ^^ ^^ mc\i in diameter, without the coat 

 about y^^ooths. 



The grains contained a grumous mass, of a yellow-green co- 

 lour, surrounded by a rather broad pellucid border. The ex- 

 ternal surface was perfectly smooth, but the border marked 

 with little flexuous lines perpendicular to it, which are in fact 

 seated on a membrane which intimately lines the outer coat of 

 the grain. A portion of the mass was placed in a glass of water, 

 and on the following morning a sensible change had taken 

 place. At one or both ends the contents had contracted, 

 leaving the outer shell at those points perfectly smooth and 

 colourless, while the pellucid border still surrounding the 

 central mass was marked with the above-mentioned lines, 

 which, if I am not mistaken, are composed of very minute 

 longitudinally-arranged granules. Meanwhile the grumous 

 mass appeared more cellular *, with its margin light. In the 

 afternoon of the same day the larger globules were confined 

 to the broader or anterior end, while towards the other end 

 the mass had become paler. Sometimes there were a few 

 large globules, possibly air-bubbles, between the two mem- 

 branes at the anterior end. On the following morning a dark 

 patch appeared in the centre of the mass, and in some indi- 

 viduals seen laterally this patch was applied to the chord of 

 the granule, while the upper margin was crenulated. In the 

 evening of the same day the crenulations had extended to the 

 dark mass, and the large globules were less visible, while in 

 some individuals the contents were in motion and the parts 

 greatly confused. The membrane was soon burst, and a larva 

 disclosed, most probably belonging to the TipulidcB, The 

 larvae were about twice as long as the eggs, and the posterior 

 part, when in situ, wrapped in a somewhat spiral way, to allow 

 of its being packed in so small a compass. On careful exa- 

 mination of other eggs, I could distinguish the red spots which 

 mark the place of the eyes, but the whole too confused to 

 admit of my making an intelligible figure. 



The larva consists of thirteen articulations, including the 

 head, decreasing slightly towards the hinder extremity. The 



* This accords with the observations of Dumortier, Pouchet, &c., on the 

 cellular formation of the vitellus. 



