S2 MARVELS OF POND-LIFE. 



in this case is of a horse-shoe shape and granular 

 texture, and greater solidity than the surrounding 

 parts. The functions of this organ form the subject 

 of various conjectures, but it is generally held to 

 be connected with the process of reproduction. 



In common Avith many of the lower animals, the 

 Yorticellids have three ways of multiplying their 

 race. One hj fission^ or division of their bodies; 

 another l)y huds^ somewhat analagous to those of 



Vorticelhi microstoma, in process of encystmcnt, 300 linear ; in the last the inclosing 

 tunic is plainly developed.— 67ci«. 



plants; and another by reproductive germs. These 

 processes Avill come again under our notice, and we 

 shall leave the Yorticellids for the present l)y ob- 

 serving that if they are fed with a very small 

 quantity of indigo or carmine, the vacuoles or spaces, 

 into which their nutriment passes, will be clearly 

 observed. Ehrenberg thought in these and similar 

 creatures that every vacuole was a distinct stomach, 

 and that all the stomachs were connected by an 

 intestinal canal; hence his name Polygastrica^ or 



