28 ON BRISBANE ROTIFERA ; 
The following Paper was read :— 
ON CERTAIN ROTIFERA FOUND 
IN THE PONDS OF THE GARDENS OF THE 
ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY, 
BRISBANE ; 
BY 
Vv. GUNSON THORPE, R.N., M.R.CS., Enc., Ere. 
(Read on gl March, 1887.) 
THESE minute animals for the most part inhabit water which is 
freely exposed to the air and free from the presence of any actively 
decomposing matter. On account of their highly organised 
structure they are placed comparatively high in the scale of the 
animal kingdom, being related to the Annulosa. ‘Their size varies 
considerably, some requiring the highest powers ot the microscope 
to make out their structure at all, others being visible with the aid 
of a lens, or even with the naked eye. They move through the 
water with an exceedingly smooth and even motion, which is very 
characteristic, and by this alone their presence in sainples of 
water can be ascertained with the aid of a lens. 
In the collection of these minute forms of life, I have for years 
employed a special collecting bottle, which is easily made. Toa 
small wide-mouth bottle a cork is fitted, through which are bored 
two holes. ‘Through one the neck of a small funnel is inserted ; 
through the other, on the opposite side of the cork, an ordinary 
metal tube is fixed, which ‘passes nearly to the bottom of the 
bottle, the upper end of the tube being level with the outer 
surface of the cork. To the lower end of the tube is firmly tied 
a piece of muslin. The water for examination is poured into the 
bottle through the funnel ad /bitum. When the bottle is full, 
the excess runs out through the tube, the organisms, however, 
being kept back in the bottle by the muslin. Thus the quantity 
of water is constant, whilst its richness in microscopic organisms 
is constantly increasing. 
