THE yOipG SCIENTIST. 
91 
jointed tail- foot, ending in two long style- 
siiaped toes, and by means of this append- 
age executed rapid leaps or springs. It 
was the Scaridium longicaudiim, and 
agreed in dimensions tolerably well with 
the size given in the books, namely, total 
length 1-72". With a power of five hun- 
dred diameters the muscles of the tail-foot 
presented a beautifully striated appear- 
ance. 
susceptible of greater modification than 
is exhibited by the ordinary infusoria. 
The Steplianoceros is a member of the 
Floscule family, but in all the specimens 
I obtained and watched for several weeks, 
there was an important difference in the 
relation of the tube to the creature. In 
the Floscules I had never seen anything 
like an adhesion between the tube and the 
animal, but in the Stephanoceros I noticed 
Towards the end of the month I passed 
the Vale of Heath Pond, Hampstead, and 
although I had not gone out for the pur- 
pose of collecting, was fortunately pro- 
vided with a two-drani bottle. Close by 
the path the Anacharis alsinastrum grew 
in profusion, quantities of water-snails 
crawled among its branches, and small 
llsh darted in and out, threading their 
mazes with lightning rapidity. Thrust- 
ing a walking-stick among the mass of 
vegetation, a few little tufts were drawn 
up and carefully bottled, with the addition 
of a little water. Returning home, a few 
leaves were placed in the live- box, and on 
examination with the power of sixty 
diameters they disclosed a specimen of, 
perhaps, the most beautiful of all the 
rotifers, the Stephanoceros Eichornii. In 
this elegant creature an oval body, some- 
what expanded at the top, is supported 
upon a tapering stalk, and stands in a 
gelatinous bottle, composed of irregular 
rings superimposed one upon tlie other, 
as if thrown off by successive efforts, the 
upper ones being inverted and attached 
to the body of the animal. But that which 
constitutes the glory of this little being 
is the crown of five tapering tentacles, 
each having two rows of long cilia ar- 
ranged on opposing sides, but not in the 
same plane. The ordinary position of the 
tentacles is that of a graceful elliptical 
curve, first swelling outwards, then bend- 
ing inwards, until their points closely ap- 
proximate, but each is capable of inde- 
pendent motion, and they are seldom 
quiet for many minutes at a time. The 
cilia can be arranged in parallel rows or 
in tufts at the will of the creature, and 
their motion appears under control, and 
it continually, and always in the manner 
already described. Like the Floscule, the 
Stephanoceros is readily alarmed, and re- 
treats into her house, carrying with her 
the invaginated portion. In the last 
edition of ' Pritchard's Infusoria,' this 
case is spoken of as apparently not 
tubular, but a solid gelatinous mass, en- 
veloping the animal as high up as the 
base of the rotatory arms. It is very 
likely that specimens at different ages, 
and possibly in different seasons, may 
A^ary in the structure of their abodes ; but 
I am not able to concur in the preceding 
account, as all the tubes I examined re- 
sembled sacks turned in at the mouths, 
and/ittached to the shoulders only of their 
inmates ; and on one occasion I was able 
to look down into a deserted tube, which 
had not collapsed, as it w^ould have done if 
it had been merely a solid gelatinous mass. 
Like the Floscule, the Stephanoceros 
only reveals her beauties under careful 
illumination. A direct light renders them 
invisible, and only when the requisite 
obliquity has been obtained, does tlie ex- 
quisite character of the structure become 
dis])layed. The dark-ground illumination 
is very useful, and makes the ciliary 
action* very distinct. At times a view can 
be obtained, in which the cilia of i~>erhaps 
a single tentacle are all ranged like the 
steel spring of a musical box. For a 
moment theyare quiescent, and then they 
vibrate in succession, each moving thread 
sparkling in the light. With a clumsy 
mode of lighting them, the cilia look like 
stumpy bristles, and are often so drawn ; 
but precisely the right quantity of light 
coming in the right direction, makes them 
appear more numerous, and much longer 
