A Sportsman 41 



covintless profusion. It is found in thermal springs, 

 and rivulets flowing from snow-banks and glaciers, 

 and in salt as well as fresh water. No form of life 

 can be more universal and extensive, while of so 

 minute a character in the sea and in many fresh 

 waters as to require the strongest magnifying j)ower 

 to clearly observe. Even distilled water, upon ex- 

 posure to the air, mil exhibit the life. Freezing 

 does not destroy it, nor will a deprivation of its watery 

 element. It may be dried in the stm for many days, 

 but its germ form when drifted with the dust to 

 reviving waters will again take on active life. Ehren- 

 berg, a celebrated German authority upon the subject, 

 estimates the reproduction capacity of a single one to 

 exceed 200,000,000 in the space of a month. The 

 variety of infusoria is extensive, more than a himdred 

 being classified. 



The remarkable feature of this element in the 

 Rangeley Lakes, which by no means is limited to 

 these waters, is the comparatively large size of the 

 infusoria, which is undoubtedly gained by the large 

 quantities of vegetable stain from the adjoining 

 forests. The water is by no means clear, occasioned 

 by the excess drainage from the woods. On a favor- 

 able day, with the sun's rays aslant, the protozoa 

 element is clearly discernible to the naked eye. The 

 most favorable occasion for observing it without 

 magnifying power — for I have never applied the 

 latter — is in the winter at the surface of a hole cut 

 through the ice. Here, after a day or two, the larger 

 infusoria will collect, doubtless attracted by the light, 

 when those of a large size will be observed. 



On this my first trip in the winter to the lake I 



