307 



though possibly by no means exceptional, it would seem very 

 rarely to present the opportunity of being witnessed. This was 

 the evolution from the body-mass of minute biciliated greenish 

 "zoospores" — these without "eyespeck." These did not first 

 undergo any encysted condition, but became eliminated from the 

 living body of the Actinophryan by a kind of hernia-like protru- 

 sion from the surface becoming gradually more and more con- 

 stricted off", and finally disconnected and swimming free. Not at 

 . first were the cilia apparent, yet they may have been there, though 

 in but feeble action, for the little green bodies by degrees became 

 removed to a somewhat greater distance, sometimes as if guided 

 away by slipping along a pseudopodium ; it was not usually till 

 they had reached a distance from the body as great or greater 

 than the average length of the pseudopodia (which in this form 

 are comparatively few, but of considerable length), that they 

 evinced a more considerable amount of activity. These then 

 fidgeted about with a wavering jerky kind of movement, some- 

 times finding their way to comparatively considerable distance. 

 Mr. Archer had observed as many as perhaps 10 — 20 evolved 

 from a single individual in several instances, on two evenings, 

 during the space of a few hours ; kept on a growing slide he re- 

 gretted he had not been able to follow out any further develop- 

 ment, though in some instances he had noticed several very minute 

 Actinophryans hard by some of the examples as they remained 

 on the slide, leading to the view that these were truly zoospores or 

 motile germs destined to reproduce this species, though the biggest 

 of these little Actinophryans which he had seen hardly came up 

 to the dimensions of the " central capsule" of the large typical 

 representative of the form in question. Be then this observation 

 worth what it may, it is at least worth recording. Mr. Archer 

 was not, indeed, aware of any similar one having been made, for 

 that by Stein in his work ' Die lufusionsthiere auf ihre Entwicke- 

 lungsgeschicte untersucht ' (p. 164), " TJeber die Svvarmspross- 

 linge der Actinophrys sol," &c., does not really seem to be a case 

 in point, nor to apply here ; in fact it would almost seem that 

 that observation refers to Podophrya or to an Acineta, and not 

 truly to a Ehizopod at all. — Perhaps some other observer en- 

 countering this form would be able to repeat the observation and 

 to throw a further light on the phenomena ; and contenting him- 

 self meantime with this crude record Mr. Archer would, perhaps, 

 be excused for bringing the matter once again before the Club. 



Dr. Moore drew attention to the recurrence, and showed speci- 

 mens, of the minute protococcaceous form which periodically makes 

 its re-appearance on the water-troughs in the warm houses at 

 the Botanic Gardens, almost with the punctuality of a deliberately 

 sown annual. Some remarks on this form, one not readily to be 

 identified, and one combining several puzzling and to some extent 

 seemingly contradictory characteristics, are recorded in the Club 

 minutes of July, 1866. 



Eev. E. O'Meara exhibited a slide containing many interesting 



