Marvels of Pond-Life. 



101 



fortunate possessor of a colony of these animals may be 

 able to verify. 



In the sediment of the water containing the Meli- 

 certa cases was found an animalcule about 1-120" long, 

 covered with cilia, and having a proboscis seldom more 

 than a quarter of the length assumed by the body, 

 which continually changed its form, sometimes elon- 

 gating, sometimes shortening, and often contracting 

 one side into a deep fissure. It was, probably, an 

 Amphileptus, though not precisely agreeing with any 



Scandium longicaudum. 



drawing or description I am acquainted with. Another 

 inmate of the same water was a lively long-tailed rotifer, 

 with a small oval body, a tuft of vibrating cilia and a 

 curved bristle visible among them on one side. This 

 creature had a jointed tail-foot, ending in two long 

 style-shaped toes, and by means of this appendage 

 executed rapid leaps or springs. It was the Scaridium 

 longicaudum, and agreed in dimensions tolerably well 

 with the size given in the books, namely, total length 

 1-72''. With a power of five hundred diameters the 



