^jounSi'MayMm'] -^oyal MicTOSco^pical Society, 291 
progeny of the minuter and precociously affectionate ofitshoots from 
the primitive family stock. 
Another animalcule, presenting certain peculiarities of structure 
which I would call attention to, belongs to Ehrenberg's genus 
Euplotes, altered to Plwsconia by Dujardin, but reinstated by Stein, 
and other modern writers. 1 he coin])re]iensive characters of this 
genus are, that the body is oval, more or less flattened, and enclosed 
by an apparent lorica ; having the locomotive organs highly de- 
veloped in the form of cilia, styles, and uncini. 
The first point that arrested my attention on observing the 
animal figured (Plate XII., Fig. 5), was the ramose structure of 
the two posterior styles placed symmetrically on either side of the 
median line. Dujardin and Pritchard, however, state that this 
complex structure of the setae is not of uncommon occurrence in 
this genus, and that the peculiarity has been more particularly 
observed in the species figured by the former wr^ler, in his ' Histoire 
Naturelle des Infusoires,' Plate YIII., Figs. 1-4, 1841, as Flses- 
conaria patella, and as Euplotes jpatella in the ' Micrographic 
Dictionary,' Plate XXIV., Figs, ba, 5h, 1860. In the latter work, 
however, (Fig. 5h) which, by the way, would furnish a good model 
for a sensible young lady's hat (chignons abandoned), no reference 
whatever is made to the ramose character of the setae in either the 
text or plate. 
My species appears to approach the above-mentioned one pretty 
closely, but, as before stated, two only of the styles are branched, 
while in E. patella the number is in excess ; in that species, more- 
over, the general contour of the body seems to be more elongated 
and depressed, and the locomotive styles are not so long in pro- 
portion to the body, as may be observed by comparison with the 
accompanying figure. One great peculiarity characterizing my 
species, however, which, whether present in the other representatives 
of the genus or not, it is desirable to ascertain, lies in the fact of its 
possessing several very long and slender flagelliform cilia placed 
anteriorly in the vicinity of the oral region, and these being in a 
constant state of vibration, assist, with other shorter cilia, to 
produce a strong current in the direction depicted by the arrows in 
the illustration (Plate XII., Fig. 55). 
Unfortunately, I had only time to make a sketch of the little 
fellow in profile ; yet, considering how famous the whole genus is 
for restless and erratic habits, I accounted myself rather fortunate 
in even securing that. It is also a matter of regret that no other 
specimen has since been met with; nevertheless, limited as these 
observations were, they suffice to show that this species is clearly 
very distinct from Euplotes patella, and still more so from the 
other described species of the genus, and characterizing it as below, 
I propose to distinguish it, on account of the remarkable develop- 
