COCHLIOPODIUM BILIMBOSUM. 151 



Very minute ; the test a transparent film of chitinous 

 substance; the body of the organism, a greyish 

 granular protoplasm, containing, with various refrin- 

 gent corpuscles and a little yellowish-green chloro- 

 phyllous matter, a comparatively large and round 

 nucleus, and one or more contractile vacuoles. The 

 pseudopodia delicate, pellucid, pointed or forked, 

 never extending far beyond the margin, sometimes 

 replaced by expansions of colourless ectoplasm, which 

 may be visible on all sides with a continuous' or 

 broken margin, or on one side only. 



Dimensions : Variable ; diameter of test, 32-44 /a 

 (West). 



In still waters upon submerged vegetation, or on the 

 surface-ooze of the bottom. In ponds at Baguley and 

 Northenden, Cheshire. NearBrigg, Lincolnshire; Llyn 

 Ogwen and Capel Curig, North "Wales ; near Lough 

 Neagh and Co. Donegal, Ireland; and the Hebrides 

 {G. S. West). Loch Ness, Scotland {D. J. Scourfield). 



The test of G. hilimbosum, under a power of about 

 600 diameters, is delicately punctated. In lateral 

 outline it appears widely bell-shaped but this is suscep- 

 tible of change ; its margin is defined by a doubly- 

 contoured dotted line ; it is more translucent near the 

 mouth. The margin of the expanded protoplasm is 

 more or less delicately serrulate imder a high magni- 

 fication. Leidy found this organism very common 

 near Philadelphia in the waters of ditches and ponds, 

 amongst alg« and other low vegetation, but from its 

 minute size and tranparency he said that it was very 

 liable to be overlooked or mistaken for an Amoeba. A 

 little examination, however, reveals the presence of 

 the flexible transparent envelope, the outer margin of 

 which is often exceeded by the expanded endoplasm, 

 and from this the usually pointed, short pseudopodia are 

 emitted. The living organism is closely invested with 

 its envelope, and the finely punctated surface of the 

 latter can only be demonstrated, as Leidy remarks, 



