94 



NATURAL HISTORY 



163. KoLPODA pirum. {Trichoda carnium, E.) The 

 pear-shaped Kolpoda. — This delicate animalcule is re- 

 presented, magnified, at figure 84. The body is slightly 

 curved, and the anterior extremity rather pointed. The 

 specimen shewn in the drawing is about to separate, 

 and a colourless line or band may be perceived across 

 the middle of the body. This is usually observable be- 

 fore the contraction of the body, and is the first indica- 

 tion of a division : when completed, the two animalcules 

 thus produced are much shorter in proportion to their 

 breadth than the parent -, indeed, some of them, when 

 just apart, are so nearly globular, that at the first glance 

 they might be mistaken for a species of Vohox, In the 

 drawing may be seen the cilia surrounding the mouth ; 

 these, as remarked before, are very difficult to be dis- 

 cerned ; they require a good microscope, and consider- 

 able address in the observer, to render them distinct : 

 the direction of the current which the cilia produce is 

 marked by the arrows : the polygastric form of the ali- 

 mentary canal, and its termination at the lower extre- 

 mity, are shewn. When the water has nearly evaporated, 

 longitudinal folds may be observed along the body, and 

 when completely dried up, the cilia become more distinct. 

 Ehrenberg considers that, according to Muller's arrange- 

 ment, it ought to be placed along with the Paramaecium, 

 Size, 1 -400th of an inch. (See figures 77 and 78.) 



164. Kolpoda cuneus. The wedge-shaped Kolpoda. — 

 This animalcule is shewn in two of its most common 

 forms, at figures 91 and 92 : it somewhat resembles a 



