RIVER GARDENS ; 



not hitherto met with any explanations that appear 

 to me to be satisfactory. 



" Dr. Hassall, in his work on the Fresh-water 

 Alg<B, observes, that he can perceive nothing extra- 

 ordinary in these motions; nothing indicative, as 

 most suppose, of a sensitive or animal life. He 

 then goes on to state that the Oscillatorice are 

 naturally straight; that the act of placing them 

 under the microscope must, of necessity, bend 

 them; and that the motions that are then per- 

 ceived are nothing more than a return to their 

 naturally straight position, depending upon their 

 elasticity. He further states, that currents almost 

 imperceptible in the liquid in which they are im- 

 mersed, and perhaps unequal attractions amongst 

 the filaments themselves, are causes amply sufficient 

 to explain any motion which he has ever witnessed 

 amongst the Oscillator ice. 



"This appears to me to be a very easy, but 

 unsatisfactory mode of disposing of a difficulty ; in 

 short, it is an opinion that is evidently the result of 

 hasty or insufficient observation. 



" Now, I have no hesitation in stating that, after 

 very careful and repeated examinations, I have fully 

 satisfied myself that the motions of this family of 

 fresh-water Alg& are entirely independent of any 



