94 MAKVELS OF POND-LIFE. 



may be seen delicate threads towards which others 

 radiate; these are thought by Mr. Gosse to be 

 portions of a nervous system, and two calcars or 

 feelers serve as organs of relation. The young 

 Melicertas are likewise furnished with a pair of 

 eyes, which are probably rudimentary, and disappear 

 as they grow up. 



The Melicerta tubes, being large enough to be vis- 

 ible to the naked eye, are easily crushed in the live- 

 box, and to avoid this, they are conveniently viewed 

 iu a shallow glass cell, covered up as before des- 

 cribed. By occasionally changing the water one 

 may be kept for days in the same cell, and will 

 reward the pains by frequently exposing its flower- 

 like head. Usually the horns or feelers come out 

 first, and then a lump of flesh. After this, if all 

 seems right, the wheels appear, and make a fine 

 whirlpool, as may be readily seen by the use of a 

 little indigo or carmine. 



The Melicerta is, however, an awkward object 

 to undertake to shew to our friends, for as they 

 knock at the door she is apt to turn sulky, and 

 when once in this mood it is impossible to say when 

 her fair form will re- appear. At times the head 

 is wagged about in all directions with considerable 

 vehemence, playing singular antics, and distorting 

 her lobes so as to exhibit a Punch and Judy 

 profile. When these creatures die they leave their 



