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2)ip6 into m^ Hquarium^ 



By the Rev. William Spiers, M.A., F.G.S., F.R.M.S. 



Part IV. 



MxA.NY an amateur microscopist dates, as I do myself, his 

 passion for the study of Infusoria from the perusal 

 of Gosse's delightful Eveniiigs at the Microscope. A 

 considerable number of those who will read these lines will 

 remember the glowing description of Vorticella, which Mr. Gosse 

 gives in the last chapter of this book ; the best wine, as I think, 

 coming at the end of the feast. Mr. Gosse illustrates and writes 

 about Vorticella micro sto??ia, I want to say something about 

 V. nebulifera. They are very similar ; indeed, what is said about 

 one species of this group may be said with very slight modifications 

 about all. I cannot remember the circumstances under which I 

 first examined one of these bewitching objects in the microscope, 

 but it would probably be very early in my acquaintance with 

 pond-life, for VorticellcB are amongst the commonest of organisms, 

 while at the same time they deserve to be ranked along with the 

 loveliest. Rarely have I been disappointed when I have desired 

 to point out to my friends one of these creatures in my gatherings 

 from the pond. They occur in colonies usually, the bell-shaped 

 animalcule being supported by a long slender stalk which springs 

 out of the floccose material that has gathered upon the water- 

 plant. Nitella and Anacharis are common habitats of Vorticellce^ 

 but I have found them on other vegetable organisms. 



Let us look at our cluster of elegant vases through a half-inch 

 objective. We shall at once see that curious vibration of the 

 cilia around the top or rim of the bell, which is characteristic of 

 the Rotifers, and which might lead us to imagine that Vorticella 

 was a Rotifer, but such a mistake would soon be rectified by 

 searching for the distinct head, eyespots, nerve ganglion, and 

 highly organised digestive apparatus, which distinguish Rotifers, 

 for all these are entirely absent from Vorticellce. The latter 

 evidently stands on a lower scale than the Rotifers. It is placed 

 by zoologists in company with Amoeba^ and such little forms in the 

 sub-kingdom Protozoa ; Vorticella being one of the Ciliated 



