calls it " infe&orum omnium, facile maximum.'' It i% 

 a native of the Indian ocean, and is faid to be gene- 

 rally found in pairs, or male and female fwimming to- 

 gether. Molt of the fpecies of rvlonoculus are fmall 

 frelh-water infects, and fome of them even belong to 

 the tribe of microfcopic animalcules. To thofe who 

 are accuftomed to penetrate into the lefs confpicuous 

 provinces of Nature? and to inveftigate the legions of 

 animated beings with which the waters in particular are 

 peopled, it rauft afford a pleafing entertainment to view 

 feveral fpecies of this genus, which though fcarce per- 

 ceptible without the affiftance of the micro fcope, yet 

 with refped to their generic characters, bear the moft 

 ftriking refemblance to the gigantic fpecies juft defcri- 

 hed. Thefe minute IVIonoculi are, very common ani- 

 malcules, and may be found in the fummer months in 

 almoft all ftagnant waters, Some of them are figured, 

 (though not very elegantly, yet with fufHcient exacft- 

 nefs,) in Baker's works on the microfcope, and may 

 ferve as curious examples of the wonderful difparity of 

 fize which fometimqs takes place in animals of the fame 

 genus. 



To what has been faid of the Monoculus Polyphe- 

 mus, I mould not omit to add, that the eyes in this 

 animal, according to the obfervations of Mr. Andre, 

 (Phil. Tranf. vol. 72.) confift of a great number of 

 very fmall cones, in which refpedt they differ from thofe 

 of moft other infects, in which the outward coat of the 

 eye is com poled of innumerable flight convexities, each 

 bounded by an hexagonal outline. It may be proper 

 to add, that the eyes of moft of the fin a 11 er fpecies of 



Monacal} 



