VOOTILIO. 



(TOCTULV. 



40 







nu-Tti 



a. bt paas theU time together in 



Tteir Motorae] 07 (.oh-miS) reeembU* that of the 

 aad UM wlutes wbe rmt UM mkaioM of Oromooko call it 

 -Tra. Ito votes M of extraordinary power MM! volume whan 

 ! nUUo* to ita sfae. Besides UM Jaguar lik- cry it bw 

 oe a spec*** of nMSfinf (e-i-aou). and a wry disagreeable 

 swell* 



Its throat swells when it is irriutcd, and the 

 renmilii in ila ('--'("- and posture a cat attacked by 



which be kept for five months, was lethargic 

 UM moraine to seven at night 

 ). Sometimes it would 

 sleeted the most shady 

 mill, passed readily through small 

 luring the day, ite large eyes, which 

 of UM owl, were lustreless ; and when it was 

 wi aliped up in the eooadaesa of sleep, He mouth might be opened and 

 iU tevtb exaaiaed with impunity. It was very fond of flies, and 

 MSMtimes would even hunt for them on a dull day, capturing them 

 with great skill. It drank but little, and sometimes passed twenty or 

 tblrtjr days without Uking any liquid. It was kept at night in 

 Ummboldf. bed room, notwithstanding UM belief of the natives, that 

 the nierneniills will tear out the eyes of sleeping persons. In a 



the natives when sleeping in 

 and female are often taken 



ilumboldt 



UM Qse*mass are shown by its fondness for insects, its nocturnal 

 babiu, and various parts of ite organisation. The last-named habits, 

 iU oat-Haw eries and appearance when excited, and other points, 



Ie ieoeniiis will tear out the eye* 

 tact of nature it is usually oangfat by 

 BOM hollow tree by day, and the mala 



a very mild in temper, 



attributes to thee**. He fad her OB milk, biscuit, and fruit, 

 could oot famiiiariM hi.. 



P. Cnvier observes that the genui of which the Dourouoouli is 

 UM type Recited the name of A<n<u because the absence of external 

 fare appeared to he ite dominant character. Thui name, he remarks, 

 GUI hardly be applicable to the animal now before u. 



Tfe aaafews of this eurkm* form to the Sajou. and Lori* among 

 UM Qmiirmm*** are ahown br iU tondneet for in 



totbe 



are 



appMrance when excited, and other points, 

 ru relation to the Ftnr. Mr. Swaineon notice* this approach 

 qoadrupeds, and makee this the genus by which we 

 from the OMda to the LemtriJa. In hu ' CUasjfioa- 

 the form in the tatter group, between Tarn*, and 



IttfouDd in South America. Humboldt taw the species in the 



id the woods at the bate 

 vicinity of the calar-ictn of the Maypur. s. 



Dulda 



bordering UM Gsssiqoaire and the woods at the bate of Mount 

 ; aUo in the ' 



4fc 



I 



XOCTlUo. (nrraorrnu.] 

 KOCTHW . ... , A^nal. 



wferred to the cla 



by M. Swiray li 



to M, Swlnjr UM J 

 wiU a IM, ififcnn 



mouth, an meophagu*, one or many ttomachi and ramified ovaries, 

 and thus pnsenesinir a certain complexity of oixaniiation. De Blainville 

 confirmed 8unrmy' aooouut, and placed Noetiluca, without doubt 

 moat erroaeoualy, among the Dipkyda. On the other hand, Van 

 Beneden Verhaeghe and Doyere, denying the relation of Xocliluca. 

 with the Afaiffkatad conceiving its organisation to be of a much 

 more elementary character relegated it to the KJiaopoda. 



To this doctrine M. De Quatrefages also attaches the weight of his 

 authority in his valuable etsay ' Observations sur les Noctilnques,' 

 published in the ' Annales des Sciences Nat.' for 1850. M. De Quatre- 

 fage* does not admit the existence of any true mouth or intestinal 

 canal, and considers that the so-called stomachs are nothing but 

 'vacuoles' similar to those observed in the KJiixpodtt ami Jufiaoria. 



Krohn was the first to describe the long cilium which proceeds 

 from the mouth of Aocft/ura. Mr. Huxley has recently described this 

 animal in the ' Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science.' (VuL iii.) 

 He nays 



" .\octiluea initial-it may be best described as a gelatinous transparent 

 body, about 160th of an inch in diameter, and having very nearly the 

 form of a peach that is to say, one surface is a little excavated, and 

 a groove or depression runs from one side of the excavation half way 

 to the other pole (cchancrure, Quatrefages ; Frauenbugenuhnliuhe 

 Einbucht, Krohn). Where the stalk of the peach might be, a filiform 

 tentacle, equal in length to about the diameter of the body, depends 

 from it, and exhibits slow wavy motions when the creature ia in full 

 activity. I have even seen a Noctiluca appear to push repeatedly 

 against obstacles with this tentacle. 



" The body is composed of a structureless and somewhat dense 

 external membrane, which is continued on to the tentacle. Beneath 

 this is a layer of granules, or rather a gelatinous membrane, through 

 whose substance minute granules are scattered without any very 

 definite arrangement. From hence arises a net-work of very delicate 

 fibrils, whose meshes are not more than 1 -3000th of an inch in diame- 

 ter, and these gradually pass internally the reticulation becoming 

 more and more open into coarser fibres, which take a convergent 

 direction towards the stomach and nucleus. All these fibres and 

 fibrils are covered with minute granules, which are usually larger 

 towards the centre." 



After describing minutely the structure of this creature, Mr. Huxley 

 concludes 



" Not only does all I have observed lead me to believe that \octiluca 

 has a definite alimentary cavity, but I am inclined to think that this 

 cavity has an excretory aperture distinct from the mouth. The 

 funnel-shaped depression in the post-oral area in fact always appeared, 

 when I could obtain a favourable view, to be connected with a special 

 process of the stomach. On one occasion I observed the sides of this 

 process to be surrounded by fusiform transversely -stria ted fibres or 

 folds ; I could not determine which. 



" Krohn states that he repeatedly saw the egesta voided ' in the 

 neighbourhood of the groove of the body,' but he could not determine 

 at what exact point, and he inclines to think it must have taken place 

 through the mouth. 



" I am equally unable to bring forward direct evidence on this 

 point, and my belief in the existence of a distinct anus is founded 

 simply on the structural appearances. 



" In front of and above the gastric cavity is the nucleus, described 

 by Verhaeghe and Krohn. This is a strongly-refracting oval body of 

 about 1 -460th of an inch in length, which, by the action of acetic acid, 

 assumes the appearance of a hollow vesicle. The anterior radiating 

 fibres pass from it ; the posterior from the alimentary canal. 



"Quatrefages and Krohn consider that a process of fissiparous 

 multiplication takes place in Xoctiluca ; both of these observers 

 having found double individuals, though very rarely. According to 

 the Utter writer, division of the body is preceded by that of the 

 nucleus. I have not had the good fortune to meet with any of these 

 forms, and the only indication of a possible reproductive apparatus 

 which I have seen consisted of a number of granular vesicular bodies, 

 of about 1 -2000th of an inch in diameter, scattered over the surface of 

 the anterior and inferior part of the body. 



" Such is what repeated examinations leads me to believe is the 

 structure of jVurti/Hco ; but if the preceding account be correct, it is 

 obvious that the animal is no Khizopod, but must be promoted from 

 the lowest ranks of the Protona to the highest. 



" The existence of a dental armature, and of a distinct anal aperture, 

 are structural peculiarities which greatly increase the affinity to such 

 forms as C'o/poifa and Paramrrcium, indicated by Krohn. Noctiluca, 

 mUht be regarded as a gigantic Infusorium with the grooved body of 

 Colpoda, the long procens of Trachtlttu, and the dental armature of 

 Sattula united in one animal. 



" On the other band, the general absence of cilia over the body, and 

 the wide differences in detail, would require the constitution of at 

 least a distinct family for this singular creature." 



In the same volume of the ' Microscopical Journal ' is an account of 

 this creature by Dr. Woodham Webb, of Lowestoft. 



NOCTUA. [STHIOIDA] 



NOCTUA, a genus of Insects belonging to thn Nocturnal Lrpi- 

 dopitra, to which the Red Under- Wing Moths belong 



NOCTULE. 



