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flDicroscopic 3fauna of tbe Ikennct an& Hvon 



Canal, near Batb. 



By the Rev. E. T. Stubbs, M.A. 

 Plates XIL and XIII. 



THE Kennet and Avon Canal is a repository of much more 

 wealth and variety in Microscopic Fauna than many are 

 aware of. 



The abundance of vegetation which has from time to time to 

 be cleared away, and the facility of access to its banks, make the 

 Canal rather than the river Avon the better hunting ground ; and 

 besides this, its slow current and some occasional side places, 

 which are seldom disturbed, make the Canal a very mine of 

 inexhaustible treasure. There is, I believe, a goodly number of 

 water-plants to be found by those who look for such things, two 

 species of Lenma^ three of Potamogeton^ and others ; but I have 

 generally found the Ranunculus aqualiiis, the Anacharis^ and 

 Lemna^ etc., the plants near which the greatest amount and 

 variety of Fauna are found. And Utricularia vulgaris^ a 

 species of insectivorous plant, furnished with traps of a peculiar 

 kind, wherewith to catch unwary Efito?nost?'aca, possessing as they 

 do little bladders on the stem^ which in some way offer attraction 

 to a Daphnia or Cyclops, so that these creatures are induced to 

 push an easy entrance into the tiny bladder, but when once inside, 

 the numerous hairs pointing inwards eifectually forbid any egress 

 or escape, and the Entomostracon dies there, and is cast forth 

 a mere shell, denuded of all its integuments. 



A slight examination of bottles of water taken from different 

 parts of the canal, will show the following Fauna : — 



Zoophyte. ' 



Hydra vulgaris. 



Entomostraca. 



Lophrypoda. Copepoda. 



Cyclops. 7 sp. 

 Ca7ithocamptus. 4 sp. 



