TJie Animalcules in Water. Ill 



other floating matter, and thus suspend itself in an 

 upright position. Several of the tadpoles in the wine- 

 glass were generally to be seen suspended in this 

 way ; and some of these were quite close to its inner 

 surface. 



I removed the microscope tube from the stand, 

 and mounted it, as shown in No. 12, upon a cushion 

 raised on a large book, so that I could look as 

 through a telescope into the wine-glass. The drawing 

 represents the arrangement for lamp-light, but I pre- 

 ferred using this plan in the daytime. It answered 

 exceedingly well, much better than the Coddington 

 lens, and my observations about the tadpole will be 

 given in the concluding chapter. Those observations 

 at first engrossed my attention; but presently it 

 struck me, how picturesquely are the animalcules 

 shown, in perfect liberty, threading their way amidst 

 the transparent forest of duckweed stems, or growing 

 plant-like upon them, or on the inside of the glass 

 itself, and how great a variety of them appears in the 

 field of view ! I commenced to make a list of them ; 

 it may serve as a sort of inventory of the set likely to 

 be found in a duckweed-covered pond. Other kinds 

 to be presently named were in the additional 

 vessels, but all here were actually in the wine-glass 

 along with the tadpole (No. 13). 



1. The Stentors. Trumpet-shaped and bright 

 green. Sometimes like a post-horn, almost as slender 

 as a horse-chestnut leaf-stalk, sometimes shorter and 

 broader ; some are thimble-shaped, and moving freely 

 about. One of them pale brown, nearly colourless. 



