60O ANIMALCULES. 



writhing their bodies, or striking the little vesicle. 

 As soon as the young one is liberated from its prison 

 it fixes itself, and commences the necessary opera- 

 tions to procure its food. 



The animals of the genus Vibrio are very 

 simple, round, and elongated worms, nearly all in- 

 visible to the naked eye. The species best known 

 is the Eel Vibrio*, which is found in sour paste, and 

 in most sediments from an infusion of grain. Its 

 body is pellucid, and tapers toward both ends. The 

 general resemblance that it bears to an Eel has 

 almost universally led microscopical writers to dis- 

 tinguish it by that title, though its most gigantic in- 

 dividuals are seldom a tenth of an inch in length. 

 When paste becomes sour, if examined with a 

 glass it will be seen to contain multitudes of these 

 animalcules, moving about with great strength and 

 rapidity in every direction. And animals very 

 similar in appearance are also frequently to be ob- 

 served in vinegar. They are viviparous, and pro- 

 duce, at intervals, a numerous progeny. If one of 

 them be cut through the middle, several young ones 3 - 

 coiled up and inclosed each in a membrane, will be 

 seen to issue from the wound. Upwards of a hun- 

 dred young have been remarked to proceed from a 

 single parent ; which readily accounts for their 

 sudden and prodigious increase. — The Proteus Vi- 

 brio is a species that has its name from its very sin- 

 gular power of assuming different shapes, so as some- 



* Vibrio anguillula of Linnseus. 



