WHEEL-BEAilEES, 295 



diminution of the diameter. At the very extremity 

 there is a sort of sncking-dislc, by which we may pre- 

 sume the hold of the animal upon the plant is main- 

 tained. No organic connexion subsists between the 

 foot and the tube ; for the latter is not an essential 

 part of the animal, though absurdly called a lorica 

 by Ehrenberg, but only an accumulation of mucus 

 successively exuded from the body, and thrown off in 

 the foiTu which it possesses by the contractions and 

 other movements of the body. 



But see ! the poor naked creature is writhing in 

 contortions, which become more and more convulsive 

 and spasmodic : and now it evinces great rigidity in 

 these, till the body has become almost shapeless, por- 

 tions of the surface being here and there violently 

 forced out into projections, and the foot strongly curled 

 up. The only signs of life that now remain are the 

 occasional fitful workings of the jaws. Are we then 

 to suppose that the shelter of the gelatinous case is 

 needful to its continued existence, or did I inflict a 

 mortal injury upon it when I laid the edge of my pen- 

 knife upon its lower part to drive it forth? Most 

 probably the latter is the true solution. 



Out of the colony that remains, we will now select 

 another specimen, with ripening eggs, in order to 

 watch the development of the young. Here is one 

 with three eggs lying obliquely in the tube, one of 

 which is already showing the impatient movements 

 of the embryo within. Ha ! now the egg-shell has 

 burst, and the little creature escapes from its pi'ison, 

 and quickly makes its way to the mouth of the parent- 

 tube. Now it is free, and swims away rapidly, in a 

 giddy headlong manner. It is quite unlike its mother; 



