292 EVENINGS AT THE MICROSCOPE 



which it possesses by the contractions and other move- 

 ments of the body. 



But see I the poor naked creature is writhing in contor- 

 tions, which become more and more convulsive and spas- 

 modic: and now it evinces great rigidity in these, till the 

 body has become almost shapeless, portions of the surface 

 being here and there violently forced out into projections, 

 and the foot strongly curled up. The only signs of life 

 that now remain are the occasional fitful workings of the 

 jaws. Are we then to suppose that the shelter of the ge- 

 latinous case is needful to its continued existence, or did 

 I inflict a mortal injury upon it when I laid the edge of 

 my penknife upon its lower part to drive it forth? Most 

 probably the latter is the true solution. 



Out of the colony that remains we will now select an- 

 other specimen, with ripening eggs, in order to watch the 

 development of the young. Here is one with three eggs 

 lying obliquely in the tube, one of which is already show- 

 ing the impatient movements of the embryo within. Ha! 

 now the egg-shell has burst, and the little creature escapes 

 from its prison, and quickly makes its way to the mouth 

 of the parent-tube. Now it is free, and swims away rap- 

 idly, in a giddy headlong manner. It is quite unlike its 

 mother; for its form is trumpet-shaped, resembling that 

 of a Stentor with a wreath of cilia around the head, inter- 

 rupted at two opposite points: the central portion of the 

 head rises into a low cone. There is as yet no trace of 

 the beautiful double-petalled flower. 



It has been whirling giddily about the live-box for 

 about a quarter of an hour, but now it begins to manifest 

 tokens of weariness; or rather the time is approaching for 

 it to select a place of permanent sedentary abode. Its 



