114 Marvels of Pond-Life. 



looked about three inches and a half long, and was 

 therefore very small. Just below the ciliary lobes the 

 gizzard was seen, with its toothed hammers working one 

 against the other. The masticatory organ differs from 

 the typical form, as represented in the Brachion; and Mr. 

 Gosse observes of Limnias that " each uncus forms, with 

 its ramus, a well-defined mass of muscle enclosing the 

 solid parts, and in form approaching the quadrature of 

 a globe. Across the upper surface of the mass the 

 uncus is stretched like three long parallel fingers, 

 arched in their common direction, and imbedded in the 

 muscular substances, their points just reaching the 

 opposing face of the ramus, and meeting the points of 

 the opposite uncus when closed.-""^ 



There is no connection between Limnias or Cephalo- 

 siphon and their tubes, except that of simple adhesion, 

 which takes place by means of the end of their foot- 

 stalks. 



In a former chapter we have described an interesting 

 relation of the Vorticella, the Cothurnia, whose elegant 

 crystal vases form a very artistic abode, characterised 

 by possessing a distinct foot. Other species of the 

 same family inhabit vases which have no foot or stalk, 

 or live in gelatinous sheaths less accurately fashioned. 

 Sometimes these creatures are obliging enough to 

 conform to the specific descriptions which eminent 

 naturalists have given of them, and also to the cha- 

 racters which the authorities have assigned to the 

 different genera in which they have been grouped, but 



* The term uncus, ramus, etc., have been explained in Chapter II, 

 page 28. 



