WHEEL-BEAEEES. 285 



mastax. These muscles conceal or disguise tlie form 

 and action of the parts during life, but the introduction 

 of a di'op of solution of potash into the water instantly 

 dissolves away the fleshy parts, leaving the solid or- 

 gans, or those composed of chitine, beautifully clear, 



8TV0ED-BEAEEK. 



and fit for observation. Without this aid it would 

 be impossible to resolve the structure of these minute 

 animals. 



The little Sword-bearer, like the BracMonus, carries 

 its eggs attached to the hinder part of its body, for 

 some time after they are discharged ; the minute green 

 oval bodies that you see sticking to the side of this 

 specimen, are not, however, eggs, but parasitic animal- 

 cules {Colacium vesiculosum), which very frequently 

 infest this species, adhering to various points of the 

 shell, and even to the sword-fins. 



