62 



vered action on being immersed in a bason of water *. 

 The gordius, or horse-hair eel, while in water, is in 

 incessant motion, but, if the water dry up, its move- 

 ments cease, it shrivels up, and may be kept in this 

 state for an indefinite length of time ; but place it a- 

 gain in water, it begins to move, and, in a few mi- 

 nutes, is as brisk and lively as ever. There is an a- 

 nimalcule that sometimes resides in wheat, which, 

 after lying dormant for nearly thirty years, has reco- 

 vered its vital functions, merely by moistening the 

 grain with water. The rotifer (vorticetta rotatorla\ 

 which lives in small puddles of water, often on the 

 tops of houses, shrivels up as the water evaporates, 

 till it becomes like a piece of dried parchment, in 

 which state it may be preserved for years without 

 suffering the smallest change : but on moistening it 

 with water, it resumes its pristine form, and soon 

 becomes as lively as ever. Suffer the water again to 

 evaporate, and the animal dries up as before : but 

 restore to it the moisture, and again it is brought to 

 life. In this way it has been alternately deadened and 

 revived eleven times, without any apparent exhaus- 

 tion of its vital powers : and although subjected, 

 during its torpid state, to a heat of 56 Reaumur, 

 and a cold of 19, it was equally susceptible of 

 revivification as at first f. These facts sufficient- 

 ly demonstrate the necessity of water to the com- 

 mencement of animal action. 



* Philosophical Transactions, 1771. 



f A ' H?crcations in Agriculture, No. x. p. 255. et seq. 



