CHAPTER VIII 



KOTIFERA, GASTROTRICHA, AND KINORHYNCHA 



ROTIFERA HISTORY EXTERNAL FEATURES MOVEMENT ANATOMY 

 REPRODUCTION EMBRYOLOGY CLASSIFICATION DISTRI- 

 BUTION AFFINITIES GASTROTRICHA KINORHYNCHA 



THE Rotifera are microscopic animals, the largest not exceeding 

 one-eighth of an inch in length. According to Hudson and 

 Gosse, 1 they are first recorded in an observation of the Eev. John 

 Harris, in 1696, of "an Animal like a large Maggot which could 

 contract itself into a Spherical Figure, and then stretch itself out 

 again ; the end of its Tail appeared with a Forceps like that of 

 an Ear-wig." 2 This was certainly a Bdelloid Eotifer. 



In 1703 Leeuwenhoek 3 gave a fuller description of a tubico- 

 lous form, probably Limnias, and noted the peculiar appearance 

 of the ciliary wreath as " two wheels thickset with teeth as the 

 wheel of a watch." He also noted a little later 4 the way in 

 which Melicerta (see p. 206) builds its tube, and was the first to 

 observe the revivification of certain species after drying. 5 Joblot, 

 a French professor of mathematics, in 1718 figured and described 

 a large number of new genera and species with more or less 

 fantastic details. Baker's figures 6 are a considerable advance on 

 Joblot's, and his descriptions of habits are still fresh and accurate. 

 Eichhorn found a number of new and interesting forms ; and 0. 

 F Miiller, influenced by the new discipline of Linnaeus, not 



The Rotifera, two vols. and supplt. London, 1886-89. 



Phil. Trans, vol. xix. No. 220, p. 254 (abridged ed. vol. iii. 1705, p. 651). 



Ibid. vol. xxiii. No. 283, p. 1304 (abridged ed. vol. v. p. 6). 



Ibid. vol. xxiii. No. 295, p. 1784 (abridged ed. vol. v. p. 175). 



Ibid. No. 337, vol. xxviii. 1714, p. 160. 



Employment for the Microscope. London, 1785. 



