104 Marvels of Pond-Life. 



ground illumination is very useful^ and makes the 

 ciliary action very distinct. At times a view can be 

 obtained, in which the cilia of perhaps a single tentacle 

 are all ranged like the steel springs of a musical box. 

 For a moment they are quiescent, and then they vibrate 

 in succession, each moving thread sparkling in the 

 light. With a clumsy mode of lighting them, the cilia 

 look like stumpy bristles, and are often so drawn ; but 

 precisely the right quantity of light coming in the 

 right direction, makes them appear more numerous, 

 and much longer than would at first be supposed. 

 When well exhibited the tentacles have a lustre between 

 glass and pearl ; the body, in a favorable specimen, is 

 like a crystal cup, and the food, usually composed of 

 small red and green globes, glows like emeralds and 

 rubies, as if in the height of luxury the little epicure 

 had more than rivalled Cleopatra^s draught, and instead 

 of dissolving, swallowed its jewelry whole. So lustrous 

 and varied in colour is the whole appearance of the 

 animal under these circumstances, that it is frequently 

 alluded to by one of our first artists, to whom it was 

 displayed. 



It is said by some authors that the tentacles are used 

 to seize prey. This never occurred under my observa- 

 tion, although their basal portions are often approxi- 

 mated when an object is forced down to the grinding 

 apparatus below. The Stephanoceros is a ravenous 

 feeder, and swallows a variety of creatures. Green 

 vegetable monads, rich red and brown globes of similar 

 characters, and any animalcule that comes in her way 

 is acceptable ; and even good sized rotifers do not 



