POND LIFE. 



I have searched some of the nearest ponds for Crustaceans, Rotifers, Infusorians, 

 etc., at short intervals throughout 1901, except when the hohdays intervened. 

 Dixon's Wharf has proved on the whole the best. The Twenty Acre pond ran it 

 close till the Summer drought reduced it to a dirty puddle. As to fish, the Twenty 

 Acre pond was rich in carp ; Dixon's Wharf abounds in sticklebacks, but has 

 (possibly in consequence) no water fleas and no hydras. Very few species of 

 Crustaceans have been found in any of the ponds, only Daphtiia pulex, Cyclops 

 quadricomis (two varieties), Cypris (two species), Chydorus sphaericns, and 

 Canthocamptus minutus. Though it is certain that there has been a great falling 

 off in Rotifers, there are still many species to be found. Some fifty I have 

 identified. There are also a good many species of Infusorians, but with these 

 I have not made much progress. Among the larger inhabitants of the ponds 

 are several species of Hydrachnae, which prey upon the small Crustaceans. 

 At the base in the scale of life are diatoms in great number and unicellular algae. 



Rotifers that have been found by members of the Quekett Club, whose in- 

 vestigations extend over a number of years, but not by myself, are distinguished 

 by a Q. O. L. V. Simpkinson did a good deal of work on microscopic pond 

 animals, but, generally speaking, they are neglected by members of the N.S.S. 

 I hope that in future they will receive more attention. 



F. W. H. 



