50 MICROSCOPY FOR BEGINNERS. 



The whole plant is under water except at flowering- 

 time, when it raises a delicate stalk above the surface, 

 and blooms with a single white flower closely resem- 

 bling the common yellow " buttercup " of the fields. 



NYMPHJEA ODORATA (Wmra WATER-LILY, Fig. 7). 



Every one is familiar with this beautiful flower, that 

 " marvel of bloom and grace," and the large, almost cir- 

 cular, floating leaves. It is to the under-surface of the 

 latter that the microscopist often goes for several forms 

 of case-building Rotifers, with the certainty of always 

 finding them, together with many and various kinds of 

 minute animal life. It is also an excellent place to 

 search for worms. You will usually find these creat- 

 ures if the surface is gently scraped and the dark mass 

 obtained is examined in water. 



But if the scented blossom is beautiful to the ordi- 

 nary observer, the interior of the flower-stems and leaf- 

 stalks lias charms known only to the microscopist. 

 Gut a thin slice from either of 

 those parts and examine it. The 

 sides of the wide openings made 

 by cutting across the internal 

 tubes are studded with crystal- 

 line stars (Fig. 7). Three-point- 

 ed, four and five pointed, they 

 Fig . r.-pedancie of Nymphsea sparkle there like diamonds, yet 



odorata ; transverse section. 



they were formed in darkness, 

 and in darkness act their part in the life of the 



