176 EVENINGS AT THE MICROSCOPE. 



furnished with long antennae, with five pairs of branching 

 feet, and a long tail terminating in bristles. But its parts 

 and organs must not be dismissed in this summary way ; 

 we must look at them in detail. 



And, first of all, in the very midst of its forehead, like 

 that obscene giant * after whom our tiny friend is named, 

 — it possesses a single eye that glares like a ruby. It 

 would need no vast beam of olive-wood, sharpened and 

 heated in the fire, and "twirled about" by the united 

 strength of five heroes, to "grind the pupil out;" for 

 though brilliant and mobile, it is far too minute to be 

 touched by the tip of the finest needle. Yet it is elabo- 

 rately constructed ; for it consists of a number (not very 

 large) of simple eyes placed beneath a common glassy 

 cornea. Several muscle-bands are attached to this com- 

 pound organ of vision, and are arranged so as to form a 

 cone, of which the eye is the base ; these give the eye 

 a movement of rotation upon its centre, which may be dis- 

 tinctly seen. 



All the limbs, including both pairs of antennae, two 

 pairs of foot-jaws, five pairs of feet, and a pair of tail- 

 lobes, are furnished at each of their many joints with tufts 

 of long hairs ; these appear to act the part of paddles, as 

 the active little animal strikes the water vigorously with 

 all its limbs, for the purpose of progression, and also for 

 the creation of currents in the fluid, which currents sub- 

 serve a double object, — the bringing constant supplies 

 of water to be respired and floating atoms of food to be 

 devoured. 



In this individual, which is a female, the antennas are 

 nearly equal in size throughout their length ; but, in the 

 male, the middle joints of the upper pair are remarkably 

 enlarged, forming a large swelling, followed by a sudden 

 contraction, the first part of which is hinged. All of the 

 true feet and the second pair of foot-jaws are divided to 

 the base into two equal branches, so that the animal 



s. IX 



