126 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[Ji^iy, 



chiefly by the peculiar wrinkling of 

 the pedicel and its internal continua- 

 tion, both the zooid and the lorica 

 appearing to be pedicellate. 



CotJiuDiia bipdrtita^ sp. nov. 

 (Figs. 8 and 9.) 



Lorica elongate-subcylindrical or 

 e 1 o n g a t e-c a m p a n u 1 a t e, gibbous, 

 somewhat curved, one side being 

 longer than the other ; two and one- 

 half times as long as broad, widest 

 anteriorly or at the frontal border, 

 tapering posteriorly, finely striate 

 longitudinally, and with irregular 

 transverse markings resembling lines 

 of growth ; transparent, colorless 

 when young ; margin not everted ; 

 aperture variable in form, either 

 elliptical and the borders even, or 

 narrowly ovate and prolonged for 

 some distance down the shorter side 

 of the lorica, the borders then some- 

 what unevenly curved ; lorica divided 

 posteriorly into two unequal parts by 

 a curved, transverse chitinous parti- 

 tion to which the enclosed animalcule 

 is sessilely attached ; pedicel stout, 

 usually curved, widest at its attach- 

 ment to the sheath, about one-fifth as 

 long as the lorica ; animalcule taking 

 the form of the sheath posteriorly, 

 transversely striate, when extended 

 not reaching to the anterior aperture ; 

 peristome narrow, everted, not revo- 

 lute ; ciliary disc small, obliquely 

 elevated ; nucleus short, band-like, 

 curved. Length of lorica -^^-^ inch. 

 Habitat. — On Canthocatnptus minu- 

 tus from marsh water, with Sphag- 

 num. 



The longitudinal striations of the 

 lorica are very fine, the irregular 

 transverse lines being much more con- 

 spicuous. The former are peculiar 

 to this species, not having been ob- 

 served in any other member of the 

 genus. They are pinposely omitted 

 from the figures. The internal parti- 

 tion, as well as the entire lorica, 

 changes in color with age. 



Podophrya macrostyla., sp. nov. 

 (Fig. 10.) 



Body subspherical ; tentacles irreg- 

 ularly distributed over the entire sur- 



face, distinctly capitate ; pedicel seven 

 to eight times as long as the diameter 

 of the zooid, large, hollow, widest at 

 the point of attachment to the body ; 

 contractile vesicle single, laterally 

 located ; nucleus ovate, subcentrally 

 placed ; endoplasm usually coarsely 

 granular. Diameter of the body^^ 

 to ^i^ inch. Habitat. — Pond water. 

 The tentacles extend until once and 

 one-half to twice as long as the diame- 

 ter of the body. They are usually 

 surrounded externally by a spiral, 

 thread-like film, or by irregular trans- 

 verse or circular folds of sai-code dis- 

 tinctly visible with even a compara- 

 tively low amplification. These spi- 

 rals, when the tentacle is retracted, 

 are apparently forced close together 

 and seem often to coalesce and form 

 an irregular protoplasmic mass at the 

 point of attachment to the body, as 

 if the tentacle had for its basis a rigid, 

 internal, hollow filament which, when 

 di"awn into the body, was partially 

 stripped of the external investment in 

 its passage through the cuticular sur- 

 face of the zooid. That this internal 

 support or rigid lining exists is scarcely 

 possible, yet the outer wall of the tu- 

 bular tentacle seems unusually firm. 

 When first placed on the glass slide 

 for examination and subjected to slight 

 pressure of the cover, the creature has 

 the habit of voluntarily throwing oft' 

 the tentacles apparently in contact with 

 the cover, which then float away as 

 delicate, rod-like filaments with a 

 loop or bulb at each end, as shown 

 in fig. 10. The separation is quickly 

 accomplished, and the tentacle at 

 once assumes the aspect of a fine 

 thread, an anterior bulb or loop be- 

 ing formed from the capitate extremi- 

 ty, and a posterior one apparently 

 from the protoplasmic contents. 

 Other tentacles are almost immedi- 

 ately substituted, a fact mHitating 

 against the apparent possession of a 

 rigid tubular foundation. A similar 

 separation takes place after submis- 

 sion to prolonged observation and 

 the consequent deoxygenation of the 

 water. What useful purpose this 



