i:76 EVENINGS AT THE MICKOSCOPE. 



These are very beautiful objects ; and then 

 sprightly motions, and apparent intelligence, give them 

 an additional interest. They crawl more than they 

 swim, running with great swiftness hither and thither, 

 frequently taking short starts, and suddenly stopping. 

 The specimens which we are examining are taken from 

 water which had been kept in a jar for several weeks. 

 Tlie vegetable matters are decaying, and among the 

 stems and filaments this pretty species crawls and 

 dodges about. It seems reluctant to leave the shelter 

 of the decaying solution ; sometimes one will creep out 

 a little way into the open water; but in an instant it 

 darts back, and settles in among the stems and floccu 

 lent matter. Any attempt by turning the glass cover 

 to bring it out into view only makes it dive deeper into 

 the mass, as if seeking concealment. This is about 

 ^i^tli of an inch in length of lorica; and the ^. cliaron 

 is not more than one-fourth of this size. These crea- 

 tures remind one of an Oniscus, especially when in 

 profile. 



There is an animal very closely allied to these, but 

 much more beautiful, being of a clear greenish trans- 

 Incency, with several vesicles filled with a rose- 

 coloured or purple fluid of much brilliancy. This 

 creature, which bears the name of Chlainidodon^ has 

 the peculiarity of a set of wand-like teeth arranged in 

 a hollow cylinder. 



And with these we dismiss the Infusoria, a class of 

 animals, which, from their minuteness, the number and 

 variety of their species, their exceeding abundance, the 

 readiness with which they may be procured, and, as it 

 were, made to our hand (b}' simply steeping vegetable 

 matter in water, and the uncertainty which still pre- 



