102 



THE OCEAN WORLD. 



CiLiATE Infusoria. 



Let us now take a glance at some of the more remarkable species 

 of Ciliate Infusoria. The bodies of these creatures are all more or 

 less translucent. Many of them have not consistence enough to 

 reach a state of opacity. Their bodies are more or less globular or 

 ovoid, sometimes fashioned like a shutde, sometimes swollen in the 

 middle like an ampulla, sometimes they are bell-shaped, and again 

 they are often found flattened into a discoid shape. 



Fig. 36. 

 Cothumia pyxidiformis (Udekera). 



Fig- 37- , 

 Paramecium bursaria (Pritchard). 



The Paramecians have a soft flexible body, usually of oblong form, 

 and more or less depressed. They are provided with a loose reticu- 

 lated covering, through which issue numerous vibratile cilia, arranged 

 in a regular series (Fig. 37). They were known to the older naturalists ; 

 and it is in this group that organisation is carried to the highest per- 

 fection it attains among the Infusoria. The Paramecium' possess, 

 besides their reticulated and contractile tegument, cilia disposed in 

 such a manner as to serve at once for locomotion, and for prehension 

 that is, for the seizing of food. They are furnished with a mouth, at 

 the bottom of which lies a cavity, formed after the manner of a cul- 

 de-sac, in which lies enclosed the substances which the Paramecium 

 have swallowed along with the water. 



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