INFUSORIA. 93 
Anentera (without intestines). 
Monas lens, Miller (pl 75, fig. 1), is about shoth of a line long. The line 
used in Natural History is the twelfth part of a /’rench inch. 
Vibrio anguillula (pl. 75, fig. 7). This active species, which bears some 
resemblance to an eel, is found in vinegar and in sour paste, and can be 
revived after having been desiccated. It is by some placed among the 
worms, while Dr. Joseph Leidy, a distinguished comparative anatomist of 
Philadelphia, thinks their nature may be vegetable. His remarks, some- 
what condensed, are as follows : 
“ Even those moving filamentary bodies belonging to the genus Vibrio, | 
am inclined to think, are of the character of algous vegetation. Their 
movement is no objection to this opinion, for much higher conferve, as the 
Oscillatorias, are endowed with inherent power of movement, not very 
unlike that of the Vibrio. . . In the stomach and small intestine of the 
toad, Bufo americanus, there exist simple, delicate, filamentary bodies. One 
is exceedingly minute, forms a single spiral, is endowed with a power of 
rapid movement, and appears to be the Spuellum undula of Ehrenberg ; 
the second is an exceedingly minute, straight, and short filament, with a 
movement actively molecular in character, and is probably the Vzbric 
lineola of the same author; the third consists of straight, motionless 
filaments, measuring ;7;5 inch long, by zs.359 broad; some were, how- 
ever, twice, or even thrice this length, but then I could always detect 
one or two articulations, and these, in all their characters, excepting want 
of movement, resemble the Vibrio. In the rectum of the same animal, the 
same filamentary bodies are found, with myriads of Bodo intestinalis ; but 
the third species, or longest of the filamentary bodies, have increased 
-immensely in number, and now possess the movement peculiar to the 
Vibrio lineola, which, however, does not appear to be voluntary, but 
reactionary ; they bend and pursue a straight course, until they meet with 
some obstacle, when they instantly move in the opposite direction, either 
extremity forward. But it must not be understood that these facts militate 
against the hypothesis of the production of contagious diseases through the 
agency of Cryptogamia. It is well established that there are microscopic 
Cryptogamia capable of producing and transmitting disease, as in the case of 
the Muscardine, &c.”— Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci. for October, 1849. 
Vibrio tritict, which infests wheat, has been revived by moisture after 
being in a dry condition for six years. | 
Gonium pectorale (pl. 75, jig. 11, enlarged) is an interesting species, 
resembling a table-shaped mass, in which there are about sixteen green 
animalcula. When abundant they give a green color to the water. 
Volvox globator (fig. 15, enlarged) was discovered by Leeuwenhoek in 1698, 
and is abundant in stagnant water. It is globular, of a pale-green color, 
and from one third to a sixth of a line in diameter. The surface is finely 
reticulated and provided with vibrille, by means of which it advances 
slowly through the water with a revolving motion. The Volvox is 
227 
