THE SALPINA. 167 



is brought down horizontally, so that the head can touch 

 the same plane. Thus, without moving its points of 

 support, the animal can reach a considerable extent of 

 surface with its mouth, either stretching forward until 

 the feet are nearly horizontal, or drawing backward until 

 the points are under the belly. 



When I used the term " greedily " in describing its 

 eating, it was rather with reference to the activity and 

 apparent eagerness with which the little creature labours, 

 than to the quantity actually devoured. This indeed is 

 not very perceptible, though the jaws are continually 

 thrust forward, and are opened and closed with untiring 

 perseverance and energy. Probably they are not capable 

 of detaching more than the minutest particles, for the 

 effect produced is not the visible admission of atoms into 

 the stomach, as in the former example, but the gradual 

 discoloration of the viscera, which become stained with 

 a yellowish olive hue, that grows more and more intense. 



The large oval eggs of this animalcule may also be seen 

 adhering to the leaves here and there, so large as to be 

 nearly half as long as the whole animal ; they are beauti- 

 fully symmetrical, are inclosed in a brittle transparent 

 shell, and look like birds' eggs. If we watch an individual, 

 we may easily see an egg laid ; taking care to select one 

 that is in the egg-producing condition ; a selection which 

 the perfect transparency of the tissues enables us to make 

 readily. The ovary occupies the ventral region, and when 

 an egg is in process of development, its mass gradually 

 becomes more and more opaque, and larger and larger, 



