From the "Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 

 Ser. 7, Vol. ii., December, 1898. 



THE ENTOMOSTRACA OF LAKE BASSENTHWAITE. 



By Edith M. Pratt, B.Sc. With an Introductory Note by Sydney J. 

 Hickson, M.A., F.R.S., Beyer Professor of Zoology in the Owens 

 College, Manchester. 



Introduction. 



The splendid researches on the character of the fresh-water fauna 

 which have of recent years been made by Zacharias at Plon, by Birge 

 at Mendota, and by many others abroad, serve to remind us how 

 ignorant we are of the fauna of our own English lakes. 



Investigations of the inland waters of Scotland have been conducted 

 for some years by Scott 1 ; but Beck's 2 paper is the only one that gives 

 a systematic account of the Entomostraca of the English lakes. 



As Beck's investigations were chiefly made in the autumn months it 

 occurred to me that it might be of interest to inquire into the character 

 of the fauna earlier in the year, with the object of noting the principal 

 differences that presented themselves in the early spring and in the 

 autumn. 



Accordingly in April, 1897, when the weather was still very cold, 

 and blasts of icy wind blew down in gusts from the snow-capped 

 Skiddaw, I took a few samples of the Plankton as a preliminary step to 

 further investigations. The material I then obtained proved to be of 

 considerable interest, containing among other things the interesting 

 Nauplius larva of Leptodora. 



In April of this year, the weather being decidedly warmer than in 

 the corresponding time of 1897, I obtained the assistance of Mr. J. T. 

 Wadsworth, and made with him a considerable number of gatherings 

 in various parts of the Lake, so that it may be said that we obtained a 

 fair sample of what the Plankton is at that time of year. 



1 Scott, T., Scottish Fishery Reports. Scient. Invest, 1890 onward. Inver- 

 tebrate Fauna of Inland Waters of Scotland. 



2 Beck, C, J. R. Micr. Soc. (2) iii. p. 780. 



