ON THE HAUNTS AND HABITS OF THE EOTIFERA. 30 



If the Eotifer hunter can rise to a pitch of enthusiasm, which I confess I liave never 

 been able to attain to, he may follow Dujardin's example, and, by making incisions ' in 

 the sides of earth-worms and slugs, obtain from the expressed fluids the entozoic 

 Alhcrtia vennicubis. The same creature has been seen inside Nais 2)rol>oscidca,^ and an 

 allied species (Albertia crtjstallina) in the viscera of Nais littoralis,^ while tlie Sijnaptai of 

 the Channel Islands have been found ^ to carry within their body-cavity a minute liotiferon 

 only -g\^ of an inch in length. 



But I have not yet exhausted the list of these strange dwelling-places. A pretty 

 little Rotiferon, Notommata 2>arasita, may be found swimming about within the beautiful 

 spheres of Volvox globator, or lodged within the embryo globes when almost ready to 

 escape from the parent sphere. " On examining several specimens of Volvox with a 

 pocket lens we may frequently detect such as are thus tenanted, by perceiving a spot 

 differing from the young clusters in form and colour. These spots are found to be 

 the Notommata, snugly ensconced within the globe, in the spacious area of which it lives 

 at ease, and swims to and fro like a gold fish in a glass vase. We see it for the most 

 part, however, clinging to the inner surface of the circumference, engaged in devouring 

 the green monads with which the gelatinous surface is studded, or else eating away the 

 embryo clusters." ' Volvox globator is common enough in most neighbourhoods, and may 

 be met with it even in clear rain puddles in quarries and plantations ; while in two or 

 three ponds near Clifton it is sometimes so abundant as to give a green hue to the water ; 

 and yet I have never seen its guest here, nor do I know anyone in the neighbourhood 

 who has ; so it can scarcely be a common species. 



The reproductive cells of Vauclieria — a thread-like alga which grows on pond walls 

 and in many moist places — are the homes of another Notommata, N. Werneckii. This 

 parasitic Eotiferon passes a small portion of its youth in the open water; but it soon re- 

 turns to a lifelong imprisonment in the green cells in which it was hatched, and where 

 it undergoes very singular changes of form. Its presence in the Vauclieria may be 

 detected by the unusual size and shape of the reproductive cells, and by their containing 

 a black spot which is the animal's stomach." 



Some further means of obtaming Eotifera have yet to be mentioned. 



If a little of the mud or rotten leaves at the bottom of a dried-up pool, in which 

 Eotifera have been observed, is brought home and allowed to lie in a vessel of water, the 

 chances are in favour of there being in the mud some of their eggs, and of their 

 ultimately hatching. I have often adopted this plan with success, especially when 

 some rare species has been discovered in a little pool due only to the rain, and drying up 

 after two or three days' fine weather. Unluckily the mud too frequently harbours an 

 abundance of small worms also ; and these are disagreeable to see and troublesome 

 to deal with, for they are liable to starve, die, and taint the water. 



Eotifera also may be produced at home by placing infusions of hay, leaves, &c. in 

 some vessel out of doors. No very great variety is to be obtained by such methods ; but 

 it is always as well to try it, and to have a good-sized pan in the garden, full of soft 

 water, into which rubbish from pond-gathermgs may occasionally be throT.\n]. These, 

 and the chance droppings from the air into the pan, will sometimes give the student, at 

 liis own door, species which he would otherwise have to travel far to find. 



Many of the Eotifera may be kept indoors in vessels in which there is a healthy growth 

 of Mijriophijllum, Anacharis, or other water-weed. Mr. Gosse has tried this plan with 



' Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool. 2 Ser. vol. x. 1838, p. 170. 



^ By Mr. P. H. Gosse, in water from a pond at Walthamstow. ■' By M. Max Schulze. 



• By Professor Kay Lankester, Quart. J. Micr. Sci. N. Ser. vol. viii. 1868, p. 5-1. 



' Mr. P. H. Gosse, Trans. Micr. Soc. vol. iii. 1852, p. 143. 



' Prof. Balbiani, Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool. 6 Ser. vol. vii. 1878. I am not aware that Notommata 

 Werneckii has been found in England. Probably it would be, were it deliberately searched for. Mr. 

 F. W. Roper, of Eastbourne, has found a similar species tightly rolled up in a ball inside the leaves of 

 one of the liver-worti, Lcjcunia minuiissima. 



