174 WONDERS OF POND LIFE. 



appropriates its substance. Why does it reject 

 one object and accept another for its living ? Can 

 such a gross lump of jelly think ? 



In another part of the field appears a creature, 

 perhaps a notch higher in the scale, called the 

 Rhizopod (root-foot), which looks at fii'st as if a 

 number of small white worms had tied their heads 

 together, and carried about with them a regular 

 hexagonal shell. It is very slow in its movements, 

 and the load seems to be heavy. These sarcode 

 feet, extended in all directions, inclose small black 

 granules which move in certain courses, and are 

 considered to be similar to the grains of sap which 

 circulate in the cells of plants. 



Attached to this decayed stalk just above the 

 rhizopod is a curious inhabitant of the drop, named 

 the vorticella, or bell animalcule — tied to an 

 India rubber string ! How greedily it feeds ! Sit- 

 uated at the rim of the bell are small hairs, or cilia, 

 which seem to be revolving rapidly, making a cur- 

 rent on which is carried to its mouth smaller 

 infusoria, or whatever may be suitable for food. 

 Think of such a creature becoming alarmed ! I 

 tap my finger on the stage, when instantly, quicker 

 than our eyes can follow, the animal is jerked 

 back by the strongly contractile cord, the cilia are 



