242 



Mr. Bryce said the question raised in " Natural Science " had 

 more particularly to do with Furcularia forficula, and he could 

 not speak from experience as to that ; but as regarded Philodina 

 Roseola^ he was sure that it could be revived after long periods 

 of drying. 



Mr. Hailes said there could be no doubt about the matter 

 because it had been seen over and over again. 



The President noticed the statement in " Natural Science," 

 and thought it was certainly too dogmatic, because the facts 

 were very well known to numbers of microscopists who had 

 made the experiments for themselves. 



Mr. Ingpen was rather surprised that any question should be 

 raised about this matter, because the experiments made by Mr. 

 Henry Davis many years ago were quite conclusive. 



Mr. Bryce said that Mr. Davis read a paper on the subject 

 before theR.M.S., which was pablished in the " Monthly Micro- 

 scopical Journal " for 1873. The experiments detailed were 

 commented upon by Dr. Hudson and regarded by him as fully 

 explaining the facts. Mr. Davis found that the apparently dry 

 balls were really moist inside, being protected from complete 

 desiccation by the hardened gelatinous coating. With regard 

 to the Rotifers and their tubes, he thought that those which had 

 become used to living in this way would no doubt seem nervous 

 if turned out of them. He did not mean to imply that they 

 had no purpose in making them, but his contention was that 

 the secretion given off from the lips would naturally cause 

 particles to adhere to one another around the Rotifer, and there- 

 fore, though the construction of the tube might not be in the 

 strict sense purely accidental, it was accidental to the process 

 that it should come to be largely formed of extraneous matter. 



Mr. King said that these Rotifers did not construct their tubes 

 by drawing matter towards them and working it up for the 

 purpose, but they simply took such material as they found 

 ready, and adapted that to the formation of a dwelling. He 

 had isolated the one which he had described and kept it 

 thoroughly under observation. 



The President said the paper had proved to be an interesting 

 one, and had led to discussion which had brought out some 

 useful points. Their thanks were heartily accorded to Mr. 

 King for his communication. 



