INFUSORIA. 131 



CHAPTER V. 



INFUSOKIA. 



THE reader probably knows the Infusoria under the 

 name of animalcules, a word only meaning small ani- 

 mals, which the Infusoria certainly are. But a mouse 

 is also a small animal ; so is a Water-flea (Chapter X.) 

 and a Rotifer (Chapter VIIL). Infusorium for a single 

 one of a group of certain microscopic creatures, and In- 

 fusoria as the plural, are better words than animalcule, 

 with no danger of conveying an incorrect meaning. The 

 Infusoria were so named because they were first discov- 

 ered in infusions, that is, water in which animal or vege- 

 table substances had been soaking and decaying. Since 

 that time the creatures have been obtained in great 

 abundance and variety in even the sweetest of fresh wa- 

 ters, although they abound in astonishing numbers in 

 many infusions. The beginner has only to place a hand- 

 ful of hay in a tumbler of water, and allow it to soak 

 for a week or two, when he will have as many Infusoria 

 as he may want for examination. They are also plenti- 

 ful in every ditch and pool of still water. ~No collec- 

 tion of Algse, aquatic plants, or Rhizopods, can be made 

 without, at the same time, gathering very many Infusoria. 



One of the best ways to collect the little creatures is 

 to gather aquatic plants and Algae without taking them 

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