STUDIES IN AJSriMiiL LIFE. 67 



eral misconception. Day after day experiments 

 were repeated, varied, and controlled, and with re- 

 sults so unvarying that hesitation vanished ; and as 

 some of these experiments are of extreme simplici- 

 ty, you may verify what I say with little trouble. 

 Squeeze a drop from the moss, taking care that 

 there is scarcely any dirt in it ; and, having ascer- 

 tained that it contains Eotifers or Tardigrades,* 

 alive and moving, place the glass slide under a bell- 

 glass, to shield it from currents of air, and there al- 

 low the water to evaporate slowly, but completely, 

 by means of chloride of calcium or sulphuric acid 

 placed under the bell-glass; or, what is still sim- 

 pler, place a slide with the live animals on the man- 

 telpiece when a fire is burning in the grate. If on 

 the day following you exaniine this perfectly dry 

 glass, you will see the contracted bodies of the Eo- 

 tifers, presenting the aspect of yellowish oval bodies; 

 but attempt to resuscitate them by the addition of 

 a little fresh water, and you will find that they do 

 not revive, as they revived when dried in the moss ; 

 they sometimes swell a little, and elongate them- 

 selves, and you imagine this is a commencement of ' 

 resuscitation; but continue watching for two or 

 three days, and you will find it goes no further. 

 * The Tardigrade, or microscopic Shth, belongs to the order of 

 Arachnida, and is occasionally found in moss, stagnant ponds, etc. 

 I have only met with four specimens in all my investigations, and 

 they were all found in moss. Spallanzaot described and figured 

 it (very badly), and M. Doteke has given a, fuUsr description in 

 the Annales des Sciences, 2d aeries, vols, xiv., xvii., and xviii. 



