1887.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 145 
lines to the pedicle ; peristome width equalling or exceeding the body length, 
the border revolute; ciliary disc slightly and obliquely elevated; pedicle 
slender, six to seven times as long as the body ; contracted zooid broadly ob- 
ovate or subspherical; endoplasm granular. Length of body ;4, to 71; 
inch. Hab.—Pond water. Locial, attached to Ceratophyllum. 
The cuticular strie are so fine and delicate that they are usually visible 
only when the animalcule is examined by oblique light. The body when in 
certain positions quite closely resembles that of V. pattellina Miill, differ- 
ing from the latter, however, aside from the fresh-water habitat, in the striated 
surface, the revolute peristome edge, the comparative length of pedicle, and 
in size, the present form being much the smaller of the two species. 
Vorticella vernalis, sp. nov. (Fig. 11.) 
Body elongate campanulate, less than twice as long as broad, soft and 
somewhat changeable in shape, widest centrally, thence tapering conically 
to the pedicle; anterior two-thirds of the cuticular surface, densely and ir- 
regularly supplied with minute, rounded, solid elevations, the posterior one- 
third exhibiting distinct transverse striations, with few and very minute cuti- 
cular elevations ; peristome exceeding the body centre in width, revolute, its 
margin and surface minutely monilated ; ciliary disc elevated, convex ; con- 
tractile vesicles wo, small, usually pulsating alternately ; nucleus very long, 
narrow, band-like ; pedicle six to seven times as long as the body ; contracted 
body subspherical. Length of body 31, inch. Hab.—Pond water in early 
spring. 
This form seems readily distinguishable from all other Vorticella) whose 
surface is ornamented by cuticular monilations, by the combination of rounded 
prominences and transverse striations, the latter being chiefly confined to the 
posterior region. From JV’. monzlata Tatem it is easily separated by its coni- 
cal form and the minuteness of the surface beads ; from V’. Lockwoodz7 Stokes 
by its shape and the absence of nuclear nodules within the superficial moni- 
lations. 
Vorticella parastta, sp. nov. (Fig. 12.) 
Body elongate, between two and three times as long as broad, widest cen- 
trally, tapering posteriorly to the pedicle; peristome slightly wider than the 
body centre, the border thickened, revolute; ciliary disc obliquely elevated, 
the lowermost or outer series of cilia extending, when in action, almost hori- 
zontally ; cuticular surface finely striate transversely ; pedicle three to four 
times as long as the body ; nucleus short, curved, band-like, in the anterior 
body-half, usually transversely placed ; contracted zooid obovate, the poste- 
rior extremity sheathing the pedicle with one or two annulations. Length 
of the body ;4, inch. Hab.—Pond water; attached singly at intervals, or 
few together, to the body of an aquatic worm. 
Vorticella contca, sp. nov. (Fig. 13.) 
Body elongate conical, exceeding the pedicle in length, about three times as 
long as broad, widest beneath the peristome, tapering thence to near the posterior 
one-fourth, where it is interrupted by a slight angular elevation, below which 
it is somewhat narrowed, tapering thence regularly to the pedicle ; cuticular 
surface finely striate transversely, and roughened by minute elevations, so 
that, under insufficient amplification, the superficies appears to be also lon- 
gitudinally striate ; peristome exceeding the body-centre in width ; ciliary disc 
convex ; pedicle stout, shorter than the body; nucleus, band-like, long, ex- 
tending for almost the entire length of one lateral border, and anteriorly 
curved across the frontal region ; contracted body obovate, posteriorly invag- 
inate in two annular folds. Length of body 34, to s4, inch. Hab.— 
Standing pond water ; attached to Cyclops. 
The body of this much elongated creature resembles in its contour that of 
