178 AQUATIC MICROSCOPY FOR BEGINNERS. 



ual" butter-dish, and the 'water kept fresh and pure, 

 they will usually hatch, and thus give the observer 

 valuable information often not otherwise obtainable. 

 Chironomus eggs can hardly be described so that the 

 reader shall Tecogriize them at first glance, but if once 

 hatched at home they will afterwards always be recog- 

 nizable. The first little mass of jelly experimented 

 with may prove to be snails' eggs, but they will be 

 none the less interesting. They may also prove to be 

 the eggs of water-mites (Chapter XI.). The beginner 

 will, of course, not mistake the green jelly-globules of 

 Chffitophora for insect eggs. 



2. Ch.'Et6notus (Fig. 134). 

 There are several species of these lithe and grace- 

 ful little creatures in our fresh waters, and they so 

 closely resemble one another in external form that 

 they can be distinguished oiily by the cuticular ap- 

 pendages, or the coat-of-mail by which most of them 

 are protected. They are readily to be found by fish- 

 ing for them with a dipper, as recommended for 



Fig. 134. — ChEet6notus larus. 



Rhizopods, since they are fond of gliding over the soft 

 ooze at the bottom of shallow ponds. If the collector 

 will also sweep his dipper under the lily leaves and 

 among the submerged stems of Nuphar, or of other 

 aquatic plants, he will not be disappointed. 



The animal consists of a free-swimming, flexible, and 

 elongated body, the anterior extremity usjually enlarged 



