More Friends in Armor 249 



spite its manifold enemies, succeeds in maintaining its 

 enormous numbers. The microscope, that third eye of 

 the investigator, tells us that each egg is attached to the 

 fine hairs on the inner branches of the swimmerets by 

 a stalk. The stalk is a continuation of a membrane 

 investing the egg and the hair to which it is fastened. 

 Numerous eggs are fixed to the same hair, and the 

 whole is not unlike a long stem supporting a cluster of 

 berries by short pedicels. The eggs are fertilized 

 while in the body of the female. When first laid they 

 are of a deep orange color, but soon turn dark 

 red; and as hatching time approaches, they become 

 a deep brown, due to the black eyes of the growing 



embryo. 



Within a fortnight after the jars of my laboratory 

 are established, my anticipations are realized. Every 

 one of the females has hatched her brood. My atten- 

 tion is first attracted to this event by a cloudlike haze 

 on that side of the tanks which is nearest to the light. 

 This observation may give us some idea of the length 

 of time the mother has been burdened with the eggs. 



A dipping tube inserted into the hazy swarm takes 

 up hundreds of the young larvas, and a drop of water 

 released on a microscope slide brings several within 

 easy compass for observation. Under a low-power lens 

 the little creatures can be seen actively cavorting across 

 the field, their movements closely resembling the wrig- 

 gling progress of mosquito larvae. They are trans- 

 lucent throughout their bodies, ^except for the large, 

 prominent compound eyes, which are black. There is 

 no similarity to their parents. The head and front part 

 of the body are covered with a helmet-shaped carapace ^ 



