OF ANIMALCULES. 93 



fusions during the summer. Length, from 1 -400th to 

 1 -900th of an inch, 



161. KoLPOD A cucuUo [Loxodescuculio, E.) The tongue- 

 shaped Kolpoda. — This animalcule is often found on the 

 imder side of lenma, along with the Paramaecium aurelia 

 and the common wheel animalcule : it is capable of great 

 elongation, thrusting out the anterior part like a tongue, 

 which it sometimes bends in various forms; at other 

 times it creeps along the duck-weed contracted; its 

 middle rising into convex forms, with the edges in- 

 flexed, like a bonnet or hat ; then again it assumes the 

 forms shewn at figure 90, with a large spherical sac 

 in the middle. It is generally smaller than the pre- 

 ceding species, averaging from 1 -800th to l-900th of aa 

 inch in length, in the medium state of contraction. 



162. Kolpoda ren. The kidney -shaped Kolpoda. — 

 This species and the Cucullus are the only two admitted 

 by Ehrenberg into his genus Kolpoda, which he mainly 

 distinguished by a short proboscis, and body partially 

 covered with hair. It is of a yellow colour, slightly 

 bent in the middle, and has a strong resemblance in 

 contour to a bean, with its two lobes unequal : the gastric 

 sacs are numerous. From Muller's observation, it 

 appears to propagate by a transverse division into two 

 parts ; but the history of this creature, like many others, 

 requires further research before its economy can be cor- 

 rectly ascertained. They are found in vegetable infu- 

 sions, and are often the first that appear in an infusion of 

 hay. They measure from 1 -250th to I-300th of an inch.. 



