TRUMPET ANIMALCULES. 21 



or it may be, they are taken up by the wind with the dust which 

 arises from the parched ground, and conveyed to great distances 

 before they are again brought to the surface of the earth by the 

 descending shower. 



The Vorticellaj form altogether a very considerable family of 

 animalcules, and present several beautiful varieties of structure 

 and arrangement. In one section of the family the animals are 

 grouped together on branched tree-like structures, composed of 

 many individual Vorticella?, each connected at the extremity of 

 its spiral foot-stalk, and maintaining to a certain extent an inde- 

 pendent existence, but all united at the base on one common 

 stem. The members of another group, instead of being affixed 

 to spiral foot-stalks , are seated in elegant crystal vases, attached 

 to the stems and leaves of aquatic plants. The animal is united 

 to his tube or vase only at the base, and can at pleasure protrude 

 himself above its open top, or, in the twinkling of an eye, con- 

 tract himself into a little shapeless ball at the bottom. It is 

 not at all unusual to find two animalcules occupying a single 

 case, this double occupancy being no doubt attributable to some 

 little hitch or misadventure in the process of self-division. It is 

 satisfactory, however, to know that, so far as can be ascertained, 

 the original inhabitant and the half of his former self live very 

 amicably together, and do their best to make each other as com- 

 fortable as may be under the circumstances. 



In close companionship with the Vorticella? we may often find 

 some interesting relatives of theirs which we must now briefly 

 notice. In the first place there are the Stentors or Trumpet Ani- 

 malcules, so called from the trumpet-like form which they 

 assume, and large enough to be seen by the naked eye. There 

 are several kinds of these animals, which are distinguished from 

 each other in part by their colour, one variety being little 

 Ethiopians. They are very common in ponds and ditches, where 

 they attach themselves to duck-weed, decaying reeds, and other 

 floating bodies, around which they form a sort of slimy fringe. 

 In swimming about, the Stentors contract themselves into the 

 form of an egg, and row themselves along by the cilia which 

 clothe the entire surface of the body ; but when they attach 

 themselves, they stretch out, and stand erect, like so many mimic 

 trumpets. If a number of these animalcules be examined in a 

 small quantity of water, they will often be seen to congregate, 



