86 Marvels of Pond-Life. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



AUGUST. 



Mud coloured by worms — Their retreat at alarm — A country duck- 

 pond — Contents of its scum — Cryptomonads — Their means of 

 locomotion — A Triarthra (three-limbed Rotifer) — The Brachion or 

 Pitcher Rotifer — Its striking form — Enormous gizzard — Ciliary 

 motion inside this creature — Large eye and brain — Powerful tail 

 — Its functions — Eggs. 



■jyJH'N the beginning of this month a pond in the 

 Finchley Road, a little beyond the Highgate 

 Archway, supplied some more specimens of 

 the Pterodina patina, described in a previous chapter ; 

 but towards the middle of the month a visit to 

 Chipstead, in Surrey, enabled a new region to be 

 explored. 



It is always a treat to a Londoner to get down to 

 any of the picturesque parts of Surrey ; the trees 

 exhibit a richness of foliage and variety of colour not 

 seen within the regions of metropolitan smoke ; the 

 distance glows with the rich purples so much admired 

 in the pictures of Linnel, and the sunsets light up earth 

 and sky with the golden tints he is so well able to 

 reproduce. Probably the warmth of the soil, and the 

 purity of the air, may make Surrey ponds prolific in 



