[For The Sentinel 6f Witness.] 



Animals in the Drinking-Water. 



Mr. Editor : 



Last summer Prof. Rice found in his 

 well water about twenty specimens of a 

 small crustacean, a half-inch in length. 

 Specimens were sent to Prof. Sydney I. 

 Smith, of the Sheffield Scientific School, 

 Yale College, one of the best living au- 

 thorities on this group of animals. He 

 writes me that they are extremely inter- 

 esting, belonging to the genus Crango- 

 nyx, and to a species entirely new. This 

 genus bad been known in America only 

 from dredgings in Lake Superior at a con- 

 siderable depth. Two years ago a speci- 

 men was found in the city water, which 

 proved to belong to the genus Nephra- 

 gus. This had been found in wells in 

 Norway and other parts of Europe, but 

 never before in America, except in Lake 

 Superior. The animals belong to the or- 

 der of amphipodous crustaceans and are 

 own cousins to the " sand hoppers '' so 

 common on the sea-shore. They have 

 affinities with the shrimp and also with 

 the lobster, and on examination we may 

 detect a remote resemblance to a minia- 

 ture lobster. 



I wish to suggest the great importance 

 of preserving any animals which may be 

 found in our city or well water. If they 

 cannot be sent at once to the Museum 

 they may be dropped into a small phial 

 of alcohol. G. Brown Goode. 



College Museum, Sept. 18. J o~"j^S«- 



