178 The University Science Bulletin. 



above to within three feet of the top. This casing surrounds the 

 pipe leading to the pump, and is open at the top. The water supply- 

 ing the cistern is caught upon the roof of the house and conducted 

 to the cistern by galvanized pipes three or four inches in diameter. 



On one occasion during a rain two isopods were observed by the 

 lady of the house to be washed out of the elbow pipe leading from 

 the gutter along the eaves of the house onto the sloping tin roof of 

 the kitchen, thence into another gutter and down the pipe to the 

 cistern. She concluded, therefore, that these animals, which she 

 pumped up by way of the pitcher pump in the kitchen sink, were 

 either "rained or had bred in the collection of wet leaves in the gut- 

 ters of the house or in the elbow of the pipe leading from them." 



A number of specimens were taken alive in the water pumped 

 from the cistern. One of these was placed in a specimen jar, three 

 and one-half inches in diameter and three inches deep, where it 

 lived in one and one-half inches of water from June 18 until July 26. 

 The water was replenished from time to time with dirty pond water, 

 containing many small organisms. 



Most of the specimens died within a few days. When several 

 were placed together they seemed to take no notice of each other. 

 The pleopods were observed to be in vibration as an individual 

 made its way through the water. 



It is unfortunate that we were too busy to run any behavior exper- 

 iments upon these most interesting forms. 



Note. — Through the kindness of the custodian of Crustacea I had the 

 privilege of examining the Coecidotea material in the National Museum at 

 Washington, D. C. One jar marked Coecidotea stygia contains eight vials; 

 four of these contain large specimens which belong to the species I have de- 

 scribed as new. It is interesting to note that they were collected at Topeka, 

 Kan. They bear labels as follows : "Gift of E. A. Popenoe, Topeka, Kansas," and 

 were taken "April 9, May 4, May 12, May 29, 1912." The other four vials con- 

 tain material taken from "Graham's Spring, Lexington, Va., 1876"; Richard- 

 son's Spring, Ky., W. P. Hay, Col.''; "Irvington, Ind., from wells W. P. 

 Hay"; "Mammoth Cave, Ky., R. E. Call." 



The last four lots are much smaller specimens than the Kansas material. 

 The material from Virginia, Richardson's Spring, Ky., and from Indiana, differs 

 materially from the Kansas species. The species is broader than the Kansas 

 crustacean, and the third pleopods are not only much broader comparatively, 

 but are more truncate at the tip. 



