NOTES — ORIGINAL AND SELECTED 45 



insect life. . . . The following are the names of some of the Dragon-flies 

 which have been recorded as having occurred in Eppiiig Forest : — Leptetriim 

 qtiadrimaculata and var. pronuhila (plentiful), Sympeti um vulgatutn (very 

 abundant), Goinphtts vulgatissimus, Anax /ormosus, Bachytron pratense, /Eschna 

 mixta, j-E. cyanea, Calopteryx virgo, C. splendens, Lestes nympka, L. sponsa,'" and 

 Agrion mercuriaU, above alluded to, taken by Mr. VV. H. Nunney. He also 

 notices Lestes sponsa as occurring at Plaistow. 



New Rotifers from Epping Forest. — Several new Rotifers are described 

 from Epping Forest in the January part of the " Journal of the Quekett Micro- 

 scopical Club " (ser. ii., vol. iv., No. 30). Mr. Charles Rousselet, F.R.M.S., met 

 with a very small, free-swimming Rotifer, on several occasions in the forest and 

 particularly at Snaresbrook, in company with Notops brachionus and N. hypto- 

 pHS and much resembling the latter, but which is distinct, and which he proposes 

 to call Notops minor. Full description and figures are given (pp. 359-360, and 

 plate xxiv.). Mr. F. A. Parsons describes a species of Cailidina, allied to socialis, 

 Kellicott, which he names C. magno-calcaratu. It was found attached to the un- 

 dersides of Asellus and Gammarus in Epping Forest (Wood Street, etc.), also 

 Pterodina caeca discovered at Loughton in September last, which, like the Cailidina, 

 lives commensally on Asellus. Mr. Parsons also obtained it near Wood Street, 

 and it and the Cailidina were found in company on the same host (pp. 378-379, 

 plate XXV.). Lastly, Mr. G. Western, F.R.M.S., describes the male of Triphylus 

 atustris found swimming among females in a rich gathering of the species from 

 Chingford (pp. 374-375. plate xxv.). 



In " Science Gossip," for March, 1892, Mr. Percy G. Thompson, in a paper on 

 " Moss-Haunting Rotifers " describes and figures a new species of Macrotrachela 

 (.i/. tnultispinosa^ found amongst some Jiingermannia gathered from damp ground 

 in a swampy, wooded hollow, at Wanstead Park, in October, 1891. Mr. Thomp- 

 son's paper is exceedingly interesting, and he points out a comparatively un- 

 trodden field for the employment of the microscope. 



New Rotifers from River Lea and Epping Forest. — In "Science 

 Gossip " for September, 1891, Mr. David Bryce has some interesting remarks upon 

 the genus Distyla, and he describes two species which appear to be distinct from 

 any of those yet described, and a Monostyla closely related to, but not identical 

 with, the common and well-known M. cornuta. The species are — 



Distyla depressa, Bryce. A gathering made in March, 1890, from the River 

 Lea, below the Lea Bridge Water-works, which was placed on one side, was found 

 to contain some moths, later a flourishing colony of Rotifera. " The species were 

 few but very select, the most conspicuous being Adineta oculata, only hitherto 

 found, I believe, near Aberdeen. Along with it were many examples of this 

 Distyla, some Cailidina elegans, and some others." 



Distyla muscicola, Bryce. Numerous dead examples occurred amongst the 

 sediment of water drained from Sphagnum gathered in Epping Forest, but Mr. 

 bryce has hitherto only found one living specimen. 



Monostyla arcuata, Bryce. Dead specimens found very abundantly among the 

 drainings from Sphagnum from Epping Forest, and Mr. Bryce has had recently 

 for a short time a colony in a jar, the bottom of which was covered with some 

 threads of moss, gathered last year, and springing into fresh growth. 



Full descriptions are given, with woodcuts of 'he species. 



