The President's Address. By the Bev. W. H. Ballinger. 187 



But with mucli difficulty, though complete certainty, I was able to 

 demonstrate a distinct movement of rotation. 



The organisms start when at the greatest distance from the 

 debris with the anterior and posterior flagella at an angle with the 

 axis of the body, as in figs. 5, 6, 7, plate IV., and may, by 

 close observation, aided with minute particles of carmine in the 

 fluid, be seen to swirl rapidly from left to right, causing a screw- 

 action, the middle four flagella presenting the spiral appearance 

 seen in the figures ; and the anterior and posterior rapidly ap- 

 proaching their final condition seen in h, fig. 9, plate lY. 



In receding, the anterior and posterior flagella spread out as 

 before, and swirl in the reverse direction, rapidly falling forward, as 

 in e, fig. 9. 



In this way the constant battering ensues. 

 Each of the drawings was made instantly, and they were made 

 with different lenses. The whole of fig. 9 was made with the 

 oil 1/25, 1-37 N.A. ; so was fig. 11, plate Y. Fig. 11, plate lY., 

 was drawn with a fine water 1/16 ; fig. 6, plate lY., with the oil 

 1/50, 1 • 37 N.A. ; while figs. 7 and 5, plate lY., were drawn with 

 the 1/6 oil, 1-50 N.A. 



A diagrammatic view of what I take to be the method of effecting 

 this powerful movement, for accomplishing the final breaking-up of 

 the last fragments of a decomposing mass, is seen in figs. 12 and 

 13, plate Y. 



The greatest perplexity at this point of my work was the 

 relatively few forms I could find, and the difficulty of knowing in 

 what way to promote their increase. I have not yet discovered this 

 latter desideratum ; but at a subsequent period I found the organism 

 more freely, when the main difficulties of its life-history were 

 overcome ; and so I was able to complete the details here given. 



But the incitements to proceed with the life-history of the 

 organism, rather than linger over the details of its morphology and 

 movements, were strong, for the drama partly observed was inter- 

 esting in no ordinary sense. 



From the large number of its flagella, I had hardly been 

 prepared for fission as a feature of its life-cycle, although so uni- 

 versal in the group. But on steadily following one, and subsequently, 

 in order to complete the observation, many others, I selected the 

 free-swimming state, seen in figs. 4, 2, and 1, plate Y., and fig. 10, 

 plate lY. Soon, in the course of three or four minutes, I observed 

 a sudden indenture, almost a constriction, in the middle of the 

 body, as seen in fig. 3, plate Y. ; and directly this occurred, the 

 flagella, previously acting together for the propulsion of the whole 

 body, separated, and three of them acted in one direction and three 

 in the opposite. 



This pulled the constricted part out into a hyaline neck, as 



