IKi THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [April 



and vt'iit iiiiii jilaiH' : tlic ;iiitt'ii()i' liall" of tin- viMit nun 

 traversed I'y a sli<i-lit coiicaNity which includes ahoiit one- 

 half the body width; Hagella originating together near 

 the center of anterior ])order ; the anterior rtagelinn) 

 equals one body length and is directed obliquely forward 

 to the rig-ht side; the anterior third oi tliis flagclinni is 

 vibratile and is flexed still further to the right side; the 

 posterior tlagellum equals nearly two body lengths; oval 

 aperture capacious, situated at the base of the anterior 

 flagellum and conspicuous- only when the infusorian is 

 engulphing or attem])ting to engulith large particles of 

 food: contractile vesicle large and very cons])icuous, lo- 

 cated in the anterior body hall near the sinistral border; 

 nucleus roundish and sub-central ; endoplasni blueish and 

 extrinsically granular; locomotion smooth and ra})id 

 gliding. Size 1-1400 inch. Habitat — Pond water with 

 algse. 



This exceedingly active infusorian was found in a 

 number of different collections of water taken from a 

 pond in one of the parks in New Orleans. At no time 

 was this form observed until the water had become stale. 

 The oblique direction of the anterior tlagellum is not un- 

 like the same appendage of the genus Petalomonas. The 

 ventral concavity is well seen in a latero-ventral view, 

 which it often presents, as it has the habit of gliding- 

 through and about debris hea]»s, after the manner of an 

 Aspidisca, but in a hurried and nervous sort of way. 

 The position and capaciousness of the oval aperture can 

 be verified only l)y observing the infusorian swallowing 

 or attempting to swallow large particles of food. It often 

 undertakes to swallow particles of food much larger than 

 itself. After it has taken any large i)article of food it 

 immediately becomes much altered in shape — but after a 

 few contortions becomes itself again ; it is at this time 

 only that it demonstrates its tiexibility. 



