INFUSORIA. 



407 



points of which proceed radiating pencils or tufts of 

 long, straight, stiff, elastic filaments, like threads of 

 spun glass, varying greatly in length, and each ter- 

 minated by a little knob of the same material. The 

 tout ensemble of this object is very attractive and beau- 

 tiful, and its history is a tale of marvels. 



No wonder that Ehrenberg, supposing this form to be 



ACIXETA. 



an independent animal, gave it a generic and specific 

 name. He called it Acineta mystacina. For who would 

 have suspected that this stiff* and motionless object, with 

 its tufts of flexible but inanimate threads, had any con- 



