FLOSCULARIAD/E. 51 



sented to him so that its upper and under surfaces were projected on each other. With 

 a modern binocular and dark-field illumination, no tyro would fail to describe correctly 

 the cup with its five knobbod lobes. Ehrenberg credits this species with two "clear 

 spaces" that he considers to be gastric glands. I have made frequent search for such 

 glands, but cannot find them; Ehrenberg's "clear spaoes " are probably the small 

 bulbs, the rudiments of a mastax, in which the jaws are inserted. 



It is most probably Eichhorn's " Der Fanger " (PI. B, figs. 15, 16), and, if so, it is 

 the earliest known Floscule, having been discovered as long ago as 1767. Unluckily, 

 Eichhorn has given two other drawings of it, one with nine, and one with ten knobbed 

 lobes ; but, as he complains of the difficulty of rightly understanding and drawing it, 

 it is possible that these numerous lobes represent only the puckers of the half-expanded 

 corona. This is a very pretty species, and, as Eichhorn well says, " no lightning 

 can dart out of the clouds through the air more swiftly " than this little animal can 

 contract upon its prey. Owing to its small size, however, and its lack of transparency, 

 it is not well adapted for the investigation of the internal organs of the Floscules. 



Length. From - 6 l ff to ^ inch ; average ^. Habitat. Fresh waters everywhere 



F. CORNUTA, Dobie. 

 (PL I. fig. 7.) 



Floscularia cornuta . . . Dobie, Ann. Nat. Hist. 2 Ser. vol. iv. 1849, p. 233, with pi. 



,, ,, ... Gosse, Popular Sci. Rev. vol. i. 1862, p. 168, pi. ix. fig. 6. 



... d'Udekem, L'Institut, t. xix. 1851, p. 222. 



Floscularia appendiculata . . Leydig, Ueb. d. Bau d. Raderth. 1854, p. 3, Taf . i. fig. 6. 



Floscularia cornuta . . . Pritchard, Infusoria, 1861, p. 676, with fig. 



,, ... Cubitt, Mon. Micr. J. vol. v. 1871, p. 170, pi. Ixxxi. fig. 7. 



Floscrilaria appendiculata . . Bartsch, Rot. Hungarice, 1877, p. 24, Tab. ii. fig. 19. 



. Eckstein, Sieb. u. Koll. Zeits. Bd. xxxix. 1883, p. 344, 



Taf. xxiii. figs. 1-4. 



SP. CH. Lobes five, triangular knobbed ; dorsal lobe with flexible process. 



This species was first described by Dr. Dobie (loc. cit.) and was afterwards re-named 

 as a new species by Dr. Leydig (loc. cit.}. It is like F. ornata, but possesses at the 

 back of the dorsal lobe a curious flexible process, which is probably an organ of touch, 

 though it does not appear to bear setae, or to have any opening. It rises from a swollen 

 base just below the knob, and is suddenly bent over the latter, and then turned up again 

 so as to point forwards and clear the knob. It occasionally moves a little, and slowly 

 alters its shape, taking often an undulating form ; but it is not moved about like the 

 antenna of Cephalosiphon or of Rotifer macroceros : it reminds one rather of the slow 

 bendings of the dorsal appendages of F. Hoodii. The eyes cannot be easily seen in the 

 adult, but I have succeeded in exhibiting both together by condensing a strong lamp- 

 light on the dorsal surface. 



Leydig (loc. cit.) describes and figures the contractile vesicle but places it away from 

 the intestine on the ventral side. 



Length, cir. -^ inch ; Scotch specimens up to V inch. Habitat. Widely dis- 

 tributed. , 



F. CYCLOPS, Cubitt. 



(PI. I. fig. 6, and PI. D. fig. 2.) 



Floscularia cyclops . . . Cubitt, Mon. Micr. J. vol. vi. 1871, p. 83, pi. xciii. figs. 1, 3. 



SP. CH. Lobes five, knobbed, very short, variable in length, but sometimes with the 

 knobs almost seated on the rim of the coronal cup ; the dorsal lobe rather the longest 

 and stoutest; setae radiating from the knobs. 



F2 



