14 A Windfall for the Microscope. 



moored as usual at some distance from land in an inlet of 

 Lough Kee, county Westmeath. 



I placed tlie jelly carefully in a tumbler of rain-water, and 

 perceived that it was composed of small, roundish masses of 

 two kinds, one containing minute brown particles (Fig. 3), and 

 the other green (Fig. 4), and both bearing a general resem- 

 blance to miniature frog-spawn. The masses containing green 

 particles were each attached to a cord-like fibre, and were more 

 compact than those with brown. The resemblance to frog- 

 spawn recalled to my mind a dried specimen which I had 

 lately seen of the plant Batracliospennum, and had the effect of 

 leading me to refer them at that time to the vegetable kingdom . 

 The microscope did not throw much light on the matter. 

 With a magnifying power of fifteen diameters, it showed the 

 brown spots as in Fig. 5, and the green as in Fig. 6 ; but it 

 helped me to make out something about the black, tea-like 

 grains (Fig. 2). These proved capable of being softened; a 

 grain, placed for a few minutes in water, separated into oval 

 particles, very similar to the brown particles of the jelly, but 

 natter, as if from drying and mutual pressure. (Figs. 7, 8.) 

 The idea at once suggested itself that it had been exactly 

 similar to the jelly; but, from being exposed to the sun, 

 had dried and hardened. 



I wrote to ask a few questions about the finding of the 

 jelly and black grains, and ascertained the following par- 

 ticulars : — 



The boatman whose duty it was to scour the deck each 

 morning was repeatedly annoyed by finding spots of jelly 

 (which he compared to " small star-fish^) lying on the deck, 

 snil-cover, etc. He at first thought he had taken it up when 

 wetting the deck with water from the lake; but, when the 

 weather became so rainy as to make this artificial wetting un- 

 necessary, he still found them. 



On two mornings, instead of jolly, the black grains were 

 found. My correspondent went on board his yacht on one of 

 these occasions. The morning was fine, and the grains felt 

 hard like glue, and came away easily from the wood when a 

 penknife was passed benealli I hem. When they lay on a flat 

 surface they were rounded like drops of sealing-wax ; on sloping 

 surfaces they were elongated; fur instance, those lying on I he 

 middle of (he cylindrical " sail- coat" which covers the mainsail 

 when furled, were round, while those at its sides appeared to 

 have ran down, as dropped glue would have done. My in- 

 formant did not observe any grains on ropes in a vertical 

 position, or on i he masl ; but lie noticed a coil of perfectly 

 white rope Bpotted all over with them. The boatman said ho 

 thought the black grains appeared in rather greater quantity 



