56 BULLETIN OF THE LABORATORIES 



opening for the exit of the foot and are curved plates. The foot, 

 which can be almost wholly withdrawn within the lorica, is composed 

 of a closely ringed basal portion terminated by a short rigid joint, 

 bearing two conical claws and blunt processes. The claws are perfora- 

 ted by the ducts of large cement glands. The flexibility and extensi- 

 bility of the foot are truly wonderful. The whole shell is covered 

 above with fine granules, but is not otherwise marked. The eye is 

 large and is seated on the ventral side of a large ganglion. The max- 

 tax is very wide and short. The manubrium is a curved plate and 

 the uncus consists of several fused plates (see drawing). I have seen 

 the animal attempt to masticate a large diatom and, after failing to 

 crush it, reject it by reversing the usual movement of the jaws. The 

 pharynx is ciliated and funnel-form. The oesophagus is not ciliated, 

 but has ringed muscles which, when in motion, give the appearance of 

 a valvular arrangement. The stomach and intestine are strongly 

 curved upon each other, the former being glandular with fatty spheres 

 in its walls, while the latter is furnished with a dense coating of cilia. 

 The pulsating vessel is not large, but the lateral vessels with their beaker 

 cells are quite conspicuous. This species, which agrees with Br. 

 Bakeri closely, is common in Ohio, (September). 



Another species, known only from a single gathering and imper- 

 fectly studied, differs from all known species in having a single pair of 

 spines before and behind and a foot which at the base is multiarticu- 

 late, but ends in the two long segments, the last with two quite long 

 claws. The shell is nearly smooth. This species may be called 

 Br. interfnedius, as it partakes of the characters of both sections. 



Brachionus militaris, Ehr. 



( Plate X, Fig. 10. ) 



It is interesting to compare with the above a related species which 

 is quite common in the west and which belongs to that section of the 

 genus characterized by the absence of the ringed basal arrangement of 

 the foot. This form, which may not be properly Brachionus, resem- 

 bles decidedly the above in the form of the body. The anterior mar- 

 gin extends into ten teeth, of which the superior median are longest 

 and curve ventrally. All the other anterior teeth are doubly curved, 

 the points extending outward. The posterior part of the body bears 

 two pairs of spines, the relative position (and size) of which is not 

 constant. The outer pair are always longer and project outward and 



