MARVELS OF THE POND. 



clearness the appear- 

 ance and the functions 

 of the creature as in 

 life. It is the Pluma- 

 tella repens. 



This animal belongs 

 to a group of which there 

 are numerous kinds, and 

 every pond-hunter has 

 met with one or other 

 of them. I am told 

 that in the ponds of 

 Hampstead Heath they 

 are by no means rare. 

 When found in the 

 living state, 'a number 

 of individuals occur 

 together in a colony. 

 They are polyp-shaped 

 animals, and live to- 

 gether in communities 

 the shape of which is 

 that of a ramifying 

 tube. This tube is 

 dotted at intervals with 

 brown masses of an oval 

 form, from which may 

 be seen in the micro- 

 scope a number of long 

 pearly tentacles pro- 

 truding, all decorated F I. Zl.-Plumatella repens. 

 along their margins with cilia in constant movement. 



9 



