ox PUTREFACTIVE ORGANISMS. 91 



organism— a most wonderful one. It has a rigid flagellum 

 armed with a hook and a long trailing flagellum. The animal 

 swims about, and when it comes to a piece of decaying 

 tissue, it often anchors itself by the trailing flagellum, which 

 is coiled into a spiral ; then it darts up and down upon the 

 decaying matter. The action of this was shown by a me- 

 chanical slide, the up-and-down motion and the coiling and 

 imcoiling ol the flagellum being seen. These were suc- 

 ceeded by a group which had a rigid flagellum without any 

 hook, and which fastens itself down by means of its trailing 

 flagellum, and hammers the decomposing tissue by throwing 

 itself against it. This process was also shown on the screen 

 by means of a mechanical slide. Dr. Dallinger said that this 

 occurred at about the middle of the putrefactive action, the 

 greater part of which is accomplished by this. The mass 

 now gradually broke up. The next kind, which was also 

 shown on the screen, and its process explained by a mecha- 

 nical slide, has two trailing flagella by which it anchors 

 itself; it then springs up and darts down, and assists the 

 decomposition. At the close of this stage there is little left 

 of the original tissue but some water charged with carbonic 

 acid, and a slight deposit of fragments. Dr. Dallinger said 

 that four j^ears ago he found a new organism which acts as 

 a gleaner, and gathers up the fragments of the debris left 

 by the others. It is armed with six flagella, and swims 

 about in the liquid, and when it comes within a certain 

 distance of the solid remnants twists its middle flagella 

 together, and springs up and down on the debris, removing 

 entirely tiny particles. They move in a most beautifully 

 rhythmic manner up and down. He showed a picture of 

 these on the screen, and also a mechanical slide of a group 

 of three, with their pretty rhythmic action. And thus the 

 organic tissues were broken up into their ultimate elements. 



