78 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
tion of a purpose, and without exhibiting 
any instrument with which their locomo- 
tion was effected. To find out how this 
was done, a higher power was used, and 
from their extreme minuteness an am- 
plification of seven hundred and twenty 
linear was conveniently employed, 
although a lower one (three or four hun- 
dred) disclosed the secret by showing that 
a little whip was flourished about through 
the neck, which the lower power revealed. 
When highly magnified, each little globe 
was seen to consist of an outer case of a 
reddish orange color, which was notice- 
able on looking at the edges, although in 
the centre it was transparent enough to 
show the brilliant green contents, that re- 
sembled the chlorophyl, or green color- 
ing matter of plants. From a short neck 
proceeded the whip-like filament, which 
was lashed and twisted about in all direc- 
tions. These little creatures belong to 
the monad family, but whether they are to 
be called Ti^aclielomonads, or by some 
other hard name, the learned must decide. 
The ' Micrographic Dictionary ' puts a 
note of interrogation to the assertion of 
some writers that Trachelomonads have 
no necks, and draws some with such an 
appendage. 
Pritchard's last edition is against necks, 
and whether the necks or no necks are to 
win, is a mighty question, equal at least 
to the famous controversy, which divided 
the world into " big and little endians 
in the matter of breaking eggs." 
A discussion of more importance is, 
whether these Cry2^tomonads— that name 
will do whatever comes of the neck con- 
troversy—are animals or vegetables. 
Lachmann and Mr. Carter affirm that 
they have detected a contractile vesicle, 
which would assimilate them to the an- 
imal series, but their general behavior 
is vegetable ; and the ' Micrographic Dic- 
tionary ' is in favor of referring them to 
the Algw— that great family of simple 
plants, of which the sea-weeds are the 
most important representatives. 
When any of the monads swarm, there 
are sure to be plenty of other creatures to 
eat them up, and in this instance the 
predaceous animalcule, already de- 
scribed, was not the only enemy the little 
green globes had to suffer from, as two 
sorts of rotifer were frequently met with. 
One of these was a very handsome and 
singular creature, which in some posi- 
tions had the general contour of a cocka- 
too, only that the legs were wanting, 
and the head exhibited a monkey face. 
The "wheels '' were represented by ciliary 
tufts, and two bright red eyes twinkled 
with a knowing look. From each shoul- 
der proceeded a long curved spine, and 
about two-thirds down the body, and ly- 
ing between the two long spines, a 
shorter one was articulated, which fol- 
lowed the same curve. A gizzard was 
busy in the breast, and the body termin- 
ated in two short toes which grasped a 
large round egg. Whenever the cilia were 
drawn in, the three spines were thrown 
up ; but they had an independent motion 
Triarthra. X 130. 
of their own, and every now and then 
were jerked suddenly and violently back, 
which occasioned a rapid change in the 
creature's position. The gizzard ap- 
peared to consist of two rounded masses, 
having several ridges of teeth, which 
worked against each other something like 
the prominences of a coffee-mill. From 
the three spines, this animal was a 
Triartlii'a, or Three-limbed Rotifer, but 
the position of the spines, and the toes, 
made it differ from any species described 
in the ' Micrographic Dictionary, ' or in 
Pritchard. 
Whether or not this species is to be re- 
garded as having a lorica or not, must 
depend upon the precise meaning at- 
tached to that word. At any rate the 
integument was much firmer than in 
many of the rotifers, and gave an efficient 
support to the spines which a mere skin 
could not do. As Mr. Gosse remarks of 
an allied genus, the Polyarthra, or Many- 
limbed Rotifer, this creature could not be 
investigated without coming to the con- 
clusion " Here again we have true jointed 
limbs ;" a fact of great importance in de- 
termining the zoological rank of the fam- 
ily, and in supporting Mr. Gosse 's view^ 
some at least bore a strong affinity with 
the group of Arthropoda, of which the 
insects are the .principal representa- 
tives. 
Another rotifer of even greater interest, 
which was busy among the Cryptomonads, 
was the Brachion, or "Pitcher Rotifer" 
(Brachionus). The members of this 
genus will frequently reward the 
scearcher into pond-life. Their main 
characteristic is a cup or pitcher-shaped 
lorica, which is cut or notched at the top 
into several horns or projections, the 
