THE PLOSCULAEIA. 163 



temporary cavities for the reception of food ; for if a little 

 indigo or carmine be mingled with the drop of water, the 

 ciliary rotation brings it to the mouth, and presently we 

 see globules of a faint blue or pink hue appear in the 

 colourless flesh, and these speedUy augment the depth of 

 their tint, as more and more of the pigment is imbibed, 

 untU they at length attain the richest deep blue, or fuU 

 crimson. 



The observer may, perhaps, see also that most elegant 

 of animalcules the Floscularia. A tube of jelly stands up 

 from one of the leaves, so filmy and transparent, that one 

 perceives it only by the sedimentary matters that have 

 become entangled in its outer surface. It seems to be de- 

 posited progressively, — a mucus excreted and thrown off 

 by the skin -of the tenant ; and hence the upper portion, 

 being the most recently formed, is destitute of such ex- 

 traneous substances, and can with the greatest difficulty 

 be traced to its termination. "Within this tube resides 

 the beautiful constructor ; a very slender foot or pedicle, 

 capable of being drawn out to such a length as to equal 

 that of the tube, and of being suddenly contracted at the 

 pleasure of the animal, merges into an ovate body of 

 translucent flesh, in which all the organs are clearly visi- 

 ble. The upper portion expands into a most exquisite 

 disk or shallow cup of clear gelatinous membrane, having 

 five angles, each angle being terminated by a rounded 

 knob. Each of these five knobs is the seat of a pencil of 

 long straight bristles, of the 'most subtle tenuity, which 

 look as if they had been drawn out of the finest spun-glass. 



