On Pleodoruia illinoisensis. 285 



precise statement as to locomotion in this genus. As ob- 

 served by me, it closely resembles that described above for 

 Pleodorind illiiiois^'jisis ; viz., rotation aronnd the long a-xis of 

 the colony, the same pole constantly leading in progression. 

 The direction of rotation is freciuently reversed, though it was 

 predominantly from right over to left in the cases observed. 

 A functional polarity thus exists in this genus. 



In Volvo.r, according to Klein ('90), there is a polar differ- 

 entiation as regards the stigmata that is even more marked 

 than it is in the genera previously mentioned. He finds that 

 the cells of the pole directed forward in locomotion each 

 possess a stigma which is especially large and intensely 

 colored ; that the color fades out and the stigmata become 

 smaller and paler as the equator is approached ; and that 

 beyond this they are usually represented merely by a color- 

 less oil-drop, which in some cases may even disappear. The 

 posterior hemisphere is also marked l)y the development 

 there of the gonidia, as was first shown by Colin ('56), and 

 occasionally ellipsoidal colonies are found whose long axis 

 connects the anterior and posterior poles. Locomotion in 

 Volrox is accomplished, as elsewhere in the family, by the 

 rotation of the colony al>out its principal axis. Wills ('80) 

 observed the predominance of the rotation to the right and 

 its occasional brief reversal. Klein ('89) states that this 

 preference is found in T'. f/lohator, but that it is not shown by 

 V. aureus. In this latter species the changes are frequent and 

 are often separated by a brief pause. Backward motion is 

 rarely seen and lasts but a short time. In the case of Volro.r 

 the axis of rotation is slightly oblique, the center of the 

 colony remaining in the line of progress, but the axis of 

 rotation being inclined from above the line at the anterior 

 pole to below it at the posterior one. 



We thus find that Pleodorinn illinoisensis, which exhibits 

 both a structural and physiological polarity, shares with 

 most, if not all, of the genera of the family to which it 

 belongs, the physiological differentiation which is expressed 

 in locomotion,, and also, in observed cases, exemplifies the 

 extreme form of a predominance of rotation in one direction. 



