INFUSORIA. 413 



known characteristics of some zoospores." The individuals 

 are all free, and furnished with a hairlike appendage ; ova 

 are perceptible in. Astasia hozmatodes, and probably exist in 

 other species. From their varying colour, their apparent 

 changes of form, and the rapidity of their motions, they 

 are most interesting objects under the microscope. The 

 immense number in which these Infusoria are sometimes 

 developed in a few days, and the blood-red colour they 

 impart, have frequently been the cause of alarm and 

 anxiety to persons residing in the vicinity of ponds w T hich 

 have become coloured by their swarming. Ehrenberg de- 

 scribes a species of Euglena, E. sanguinea, and he con- 

 jectures that the miracle in Egypt, recorded by Moses, of 

 turning the water into blood, might have been effected by 

 the agency of these creatures. Very lately, Mr. Shep- 

 pard l met with another specimen, probably belonging 

 to this family, adhering to the submerged stones in a 

 clear spring, between Ashford and Maidstone. His 

 specimens w 7 ere taken home in a piece of glazed paper, 

 and upon opening them he found the paper " stained 

 with hues of red, blue, and purple;" and the whole "re- 

 sembling clots of red jelly, or recently coagulated blood." 

 Upon placing a small quantity on a glass side for viewing 

 under the Microscope, " the colour appeared to be opaque- 

 red, looking like a small quantity of vermilion mixed with 

 the w r ater ; but when held up to the light the red disap- 

 peared, and a pale transparent blue took its place." 



Believing this colour to depend upon the presence of 

 albumen mixed with the animal organisms, Mr. Sheppard 

 placed a small quantity of the jelly-like substance in con- 

 tact with some white of egg diluted with water ; and " soon 

 the whole became converted into magenta dye," the 

 solution exhibiting the same colouring properties, namely, 

 that of reflecting from its surface all the red and yellow 

 rays, and transmitting the blue and violet." Mr. Brown- 

 ing, upon submitting specimens to the micro-spectroscope, 

 found that it gave a very marked band in the red-ray. The 

 whole spectrum is, indeed, very remarkable, and, writes 



(1) "An example of the production of a coloured fluid possessing remarkable 

 qualities by the action of monads (or some other microscopic organism) upon 

 organized substances." By J. B. Sheppard, M.R.C.S.— Trans. Micros. Soc. July, 

 1S07, V 64. 



