306 Microscopic Life. [Sess. 



account of their swift motion. They are generally colourless, 

 ciliated, and exceedingly active. Those we know best are the 

 Coleps, the Slipper - animalcule, Swan - animalcule, Stentor, 

 Euglena, Astasia, Arcella, Diiflugia, Vaginicola, Sun-animalcule, 

 and Amoeba. The five last mentioned are easily studied, as the 

 Vaginicola is always anchored, and the other four move quite 

 slowly. 



Vaginicola is a beautiful little creature : it lives in a clear 

 glassy tube, fixed at the tapering end to some anchorage, and 

 open at the other end. When it wants to feed, it stretches 

 itself out till the fringe of cilia expands like a flower, just 

 beyond the tube. If disturbed in any way, it contracts with 

 a jerk, and remains for a time motionless at the bottom of the 

 tube. We occasionally find two inhabitants in one tube, 

 owing to the creature having divided. 



The Euglenas are organisms which have sometimes been 

 classed as animals, but are now generally placed in the 

 vegetable kingdom. The leaf-euglena is perhaps the prettiest: 

 it is like a bright green leaf, with a red spot at the broad end, 

 and a flagellum (that is, a long, slender, flexible appendage) at 

 the tip, and it moves very rapidly. The entire surface of 

 ponds is sometimes coloured green with euglenas, and they 

 seem especially fond of manure ponds. 



We had a curious experience with the Astasia, which is a 

 closely allied species. We were staying in the New Forest in 

 May 1896, and went, as in duty bound, to see the Eufus Stone, 

 which marks the place where the king was killed. There is 

 a pond in the neighbourhood, where Sir Walter Tyrrell is said 

 to have washed his hands after the deed ; and at certain times 

 of the year the surface of this pond is a bright red colour. 

 We went to see it one Monday, and found that it quite came 

 up to its reputation, being of a most sanguinary hue ; but by 

 the following Wednesday, when we happened to pass the place 

 again, it had almost completely changed to bright green. We 

 took some specimens home with us, and on examining them 

 under the microscope, found that the colour was due to 

 thousands of these tiny organisms, the Astasias ; and we 

 suppose they must have changed colour in that short time 

 (two days). The ' Micrographic Dictionary ' says that prob- 

 ably the colour of the species is not constant, but that the 



