Royal Physical Society. 153 
2. Observations on British Zoophytes and Protozoa. By T. Strerniwi 
Wraient, M.D. 
(1.) On Dendrophrya radiata, a new dendritic Rhizopod.—The ani- 
mal [ have now to describe is not new to me, at least I have seen it re- 
peatedly attached, to all appearance, as a small calcareous patch, to the 
fronds of Algz and Flustras. It was only while examining these fronds 
for the smaller Rhizopoda that I began to suspect its true nature, but it 
was some time before I could make out the truth of my suspicions. Its 
general appearance is that of a small shelly mass, from the borders of 
which radiates a system of blanched membranous tubes, more or less 
coated with fine grains of sand or other matter. In young specimens the 
central shell is as yet absent, and the animal merely presents the appear- 
ance of an irregular system of branches radiating from a centre. The 
shape of the adults is very various andirregular. They attain sometimes 
a diameter of nearly a quarter of an inch, though generally much smaller. 
The sheil is not acted on by acids, and is therefore siliceous. Occasionally, 
especially when the animal is attached to the under surface of stones, the 
branches rise from the surface, and we can then see the arms, or pseudo- 
podia, like delicate, straight, or forked lines, protruded from their ex- 
tremities. The animal itself, which is doubtless a mere mass of semi- 
fluid sarcode, is never seen, being concealed within its central stronghold 
of finely cemented flint, and the complicated system of earthworks sur- 
rounding it. 
(2.) On the Reproduction of Ophryodendron.—I have now to give to 
the Society another chapter in the history of Ophryodendron abietinum, 
In my first account of this creature I figured one or two globular bodies 
in its interior. Professor Claparede, to whom I showed the figure, thought 
I must be mistaken as to these structures, as he had never observed any- 
thing similar. Within the last few weeks, I have again found many 
Ophryodendra loaded with these globules, and have, by cautious pressure, 
succeeded in bursting the body of the parent, and, by this somewhat 
“‘meddlesome midwifery,” liberated the young. At an early stage, the 
young consist of ovoid bodies of higher refractive structure than the body 
of the parent, and contain olive-brown corpuscles, shaped like the chloro- 
phyll of Hydra viridis. At alater stage, when the wrinkled trunk of the 
parent hangs lax and dead, the young larve assumes a slightly pyriform 
shape, flattened on their inferior surface. This surface is also marked 
with longitudinal strie, carrying short, soft, slowly-moving cilia. The 
young Ophryodendron, when first attached, is an irregular sac, from which 
arises a short, stumpy, unwrinkled proboscis, surmounted by three or 
four tentacles. As development proceeds, the neck gradually loses its 
granular character, acquires the power of elongating itself, and puts forth 
other tentacles, until it becomes the magnificent appendage of the adult. 
(3.) On Lecythia elegans.—This animal is found not unfrequently on 
the polypidoms of zoophytes. It is exceedingly minute, and requires the 
highest microscopic powers and most careful adjustment of the light for 
its accurate definition. The body is flask or caraffe-shaped, mounted on 
a long, thin, rigid pedicle, and enclosed in a closely fitting envelope or 
cell. The summit is dilated, and furnished with a variable number of 
long, slender, diverging tentacles, which appear to correspond to those of 
Actinophrys, or to the pseudopodia of the Rhizopods. When the tentacles 
are contracted, they assume the form of a bossed coronet. These animals 
sometimes occur in immense numbers, forming a dense mass over the 
surfaces to which they grow; in these cases it is impossible to make any- 
NEW SERIES.—VOL. XIV. NO. 1.—APRIL 1861, U 
