202 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE AQUARIDM. 



troop. But soon the scene changes ; one, two, or three 

 3^oung ones are involved in the current which the motion of 

 its fins causeS; they pass into the gutter situated between 

 these organs, and from thence come to the mouth of the 

 mother. She at first disperses them, as being inconvenient 

 bodies — perhaps she may even vrish to spare them ; but soon 

 afterwards they present themselves again, and are pressed 

 upon by the stiff hairs which form the branchi^, then by 

 the papillae, lastly by the jaws, they arrive at the mandibles 

 reduced nearly to a pulp, and they are swallowed as any 

 other substance would be." Their chief enemy is a salt- 

 water beetle. 



Cyprid^. 



The Cypridce present the curious anomaly of insects or 

 crustaceans the bodies of which are covered by a carapace 

 sembling a bivalve shell. Their eyes are single and fixed ; 

 their jaws are branch iferous ; their feet in pairs, adapted for 

 locomotion ; they exuviate^ or renew their shell, as soon as it 

 becomes too small for the body. It is then thrown off com- 

 pletely, and the hairy coverings and cases of even internal 

 parts of the body are got rid of to be renewed. " These 

 little creatures seem to be very lively in their native ele- 



