MEMORANDA. 61 



I have not made a special study of the Desmidiacese, but 

 they have fallen in my vray sufficiently often to justify me in 

 saying that there is no deficiency of them in those parts of 

 Southern India in which I have used the microscope. I 

 may mention the following genera^ viz., Closterium, Tetme- 

 movus, Docidium, Micrasterias, and many others, which, as I 

 write from memory only, I will not name. 



I remember some years ago enjoying the spectacle of the 

 rotation in Tetmemovus of Avhich a friend, the late J. 

 Western, Esq., had obtained a large gathering. With a 

 quarter of Smith and Beck's we saw it as easily as we com- 

 monly see it in Nitella or Valisneria. It struck us that it 

 was much more vigorous than in similar plants in England, 

 so far as we could judge from book descriptions of the phe- 

 nomena as witnessed in that country. 



Folyzoa, Fresh Water. — A similar statement is made by 

 Professor Coleman in regard to the geographical distribution 

 of the Fresh Water Polyzoa, which want of information has 

 led him to believe are not found in India, or, as he says, 

 " South of the Mediterranean in the old world. ^' I have not 

 had much experience in this particular branch of our science, 

 but in September, or perhaps August, 1857, I had the good 

 fortune to obtain a large supply of the genus Lophopia (I 

 believe). They were in small colonies, attached to the roots 

 of duckweed, in a small garden pond. Unfortunately some 

 ducks got at the Lemma^ and devoured it all, and the pond 

 shortly after became dry, it being the end of the dry season. 

 There has been no duckweed on that pond since, and on 

 duckweed from another pond I have not been able to find it. 

 If I had the leisure to make a thorough search, I doubt not 

 I should find not only that, but specimens of other genera. 

 !My opinion, founded on nearly twelve years' experience, is 

 that India is very rich in employment for the microscopist. 

 The harvest is abundant, but the labourers are few. Of 

 course I do not blame the talented authors who have written 

 according to their knowledge, and who may retort by say- 

 ing, " Why, if you are so abundantly supplied, do you keep 

 the knowledge of it to y om'selves ? " There are many rea- 

 sons, 1 have named one — the paucity of labourers. Another, 

 not less important, is the want of books of reference, which 

 makes it impossible for a man to say whether an object he 

 sees for the first time is new to science, or only new to him, 

 and people do not like to run the chance of being snubbed, 

 or something like it, because they have not been able to 

 obtain knowledge of the prior discovery of something which 

 a Loudon editor, with the best libraries in the world to refer 



