124 Marvels of Pond- Life. 



By keeping a colony of the Plumatella for a few weeks 

 in a glass trough, and occasionally supplying them with 

 fresh water from an aquarium, containing the animal- 

 cules, they are easily preserved in good health, and as 

 they develop fresh cells, the process of growth may be 

 readily watched. This production of fresh individuals 

 enlarges the parent colony, but could not be the means 

 of founding a new one, which is accomplished by two 

 other modes. A little way down the cells Professor 

 Allman discovered an ovary attached to the internal 

 tube by a short peduncle, or foot stalk, while a testis or 

 male generative organ is attached to the funiculus, or 

 "little rope," we have already described. 



July and August are the best times for observing the 

 ovaries, and they are most conspicuous in the genera 

 Alcyonella and Paludicella. True eggs are developed in 

 the ovaries in a manner resembling this mode of mul- 

 tiplication in other animals ; but there is another kind 

 of egg, or, perhaps to speak more properly, a variety of 

 bud, which is extremely curious. In looking at our 

 specimens we noticed brown oval bodies in the cells ; 

 these, on careful examination, presented the appearance 

 of the sketch. The centre is dark, covered with a net- 

 work, which is more conspicuous in the lighter coloured 

 and more transparent margins. These curious bodies 

 are produced from the funiculus, and act as reserves of 

 propagative force, as they are not hatched or developed 

 until they get out and find themselves exposed to ap- 

 propriate circumstances. Professor Allman names 

 them State-blasts, or stationary germs, and they bear 

 some resemblance to what are called the " winter eggs " 



