J. W. Bailey on a new Animaleule. “B41 
‘Arr, XXXVIIL.— Observations on a newly discovered Ani- 
ish malcule; by J. W. Baiey. . 
| 
| _ Tue animalcules described in the following pages were found 
in great numbers in the bottom of a small vessel or “aquarium,” 
in Which colonies of Plumatella, Melicerta, and Limnias had been 
kept. Of all the forms which can with certainty be referred to 
the animal kingdom, there are few which at first sight are so 
| little likely to be recognized as animals as those about to be 
| described. 
) If the reader will imagine a bag made of some soft extensible 
material so thin as to be transparent like glass, so soft as to yield 
teadily by extension when subjected to internal pressure, and so 
small as to be microscopic ; this bag, filled with particles of sand, 
Shells of Diatomacee, portions of Alge or Desmidiez, and wit 
fragments of variously colored cotton, woolen, and linen fibres, 
Will give a picture of the animal; to complete which it is only 
Necessary to add a few loose strings to the bag, (figs. 1 and 2,) 
fo represent the variable radiant processes which it possesses 
around the mouth, 
hi dk . 
) 
' JMO 2 3 4 
TES sc: 
Ae etme 
a 
Scale of ten 1000ths of an inch, 
When I first saw these curious creatures they attracted but 
little 
Masses 
attention, as I supposed they were merely excrementitious 
due to some of the aquatic animals living in the vessel 
