120 THE ROTIFERA. 



On the dorsal surface it is easy to bring into view the four bases of the muscles which 

 work the foot ; and which show as four spots nearly in a line crossing the lorica where 

 it first begins to lessen in width. 



Length. Lorica, ^J,, inch ; width, ^|-iy inch. Habitat. Sea-water. Essex and Norfolk 

 coasts ; Firth of Tay (P.H.G. ; C.T.H.) : common. 



B. Bakeri, Ehrcnhcrg. 

 (PI. XXVII. fig. 8.) 



Brachiomis Bakeri . . . Ehrenberg, Die Infus. 1838, p. 514, pi. Ixiv. fig. 1. 

 „ „ ... Gosse, Phil. Tratis. 1857, pi. xv. figs. 11, 12. 



[SP. CH. Occipital spines six, the intermediate 'pair almost obliterate; the pectoral 

 line nearly level, iiudiilate ; behind ttvo large lateral spines, and two smaller bounding 

 the orifice for the foot. Lacustrine. 



This species has been dedicated to an early English microscopist ; and it is both 

 named and figured in Adame's great work on the Microscope, published just a century 

 ago. It is a common species, and from its elegant form and ample breadth very attrac- 

 tive. Individuals differ much in the length, stoutness, and direction of the spines ; the 

 hind lateral pair being sometimes bent inward. The ventral surface is marked with 

 minute granules, which are arranged in a pattern of some regularity. The gastric glands 

 are again large, retort-shaped, with long necks, and are in contact, if not in iinion, with 

 the lateral canals, which open into a small contractile vesicle at its cloacal end. — 

 P.H.G.J 



Length. Of lorica, t^\ inch: width, -^i.-i- Habitat. Fresh waters around London, and 

 widely spread (P.H.G.) : rather common. 



B. ANGULAEIS, GoSSe. 



(PL XXVII. fig. 4 ; and PI. XXX. fig. 9.) 



Brachionus angularis . . . Gosse, Ann. Nat. Hist. 2 Ser. vol. viii. 1B51, p. 203. 

 „ Phil. Trans. 1857, pi. xv. figs. 13, li. 



[SP. CH. Occipital spines reduced to slight undulations, tvith a slight (usually) 

 rounded si?ius in the middle ; pectoral edge nearlij straight ; hind extremity with tivo 

 short, hlunt processes ; outline mora or less angular. 



The figure, jutting out into blunt angles, though characteristic, is not absolutely 

 invariable ; for I have seen a specimen whose dorsal outline was as regular as that of 

 urccolaris. I first found it in the pond at Walthamstow in 1849 ; then in the orna- 

 mental water at Kensington Palace ; and on many occasions since ; often associated 

 with B. pala. The parent carries both male and female eggs to the hatching. The 

 male I have described and figured elsewhere. I have seen the sexual coitus. The 

 internal structure presents nothing notable. It is of lively, restless manners. — P.H.G.] 



The highly-arched dorsal surface of the lorica is not only facetted (as I have shown 

 in PI. XXX. fig. 9) but is carved out into curious hollows that are well seen in 

 PL XXVII. figs. 4, 4a, which drawings I made from an empty lorica of unusual beauty. 

 The ventral plate is quite overlapped by the dorsal, which hangs down all round it ; so 

 that the ventral surface, taken as a whole, is concave, although its middle portion is 

 convex. Nothing is easier than to clip tlie creature gently by its sides, so as to be able 

 to look into the ventral hollow ; and then, with dark-field illumination, and the binocular, 

 the true shape of this curious lorica can be seen at a glance. A side view shows also 

 the very stout, wide-based dorsal antenna ; which, as usual, plays in the hollow between 

 tlie occipital spines. The lateral antenna; are well worth notice. The tip of each 

 rocket-shaped head lies at an aperture in the lorica (PL XXX. fig. 9) which has, raised 

 round it, a small chitinous ring ; through which the brush of setffi can be seen to protrude 



