MICROSCOPIC ANIMALCULES. 51 



a decidedly anti-Malthusian race ! As the Ko- 

 tifer is remarkably transparent, all these facts 

 are easily observed with a good Microscope. 



5. In this class, the Melicerta Ringens, or 

 " Beaded Melicerta" claims special notice. It 

 is called " Beaded " from the cylindrical tube, 

 or house which it inhabits, being made up of 

 little round pellets glued together, which give 

 the tube a granulated or beaded character. The 

 Melicerta builds its own house, and also makes 

 the stones that are laid in its walls. It exudes, 

 from a cup-like organ in its own body, a viscous 

 matter for forming little beads or pellets, and 

 with these it raises, course after course, and 

 storey after storey, its tubular abode. Mr. Gosse 

 tells us that he enjoyed the privilege of witness- 

 ing the operations of the little mason, as it was 

 rearing its tasteful mansion, after an order still 

 more ancient than the Doric. He observed 

 beneath the Melicerta 's chin a small disk-like 

 organ, having the appearance of a revolving 

 ventilator (" like that fixed in the upper pane 

 of a kitchen- window for curing smoke"), when 

 the wheels are at work. Towards this disk, 

 through the action of the cilia, particles of 



