May io, 1902.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
365 
officers all they want here and shut out Americans. It's 
as bad as the tariff laws the Americans make to keep out 
Nova Scotia products. We ought to have reciprocity like 
we had years ago J then we had a market for our poultry 
and eggs and butter and wool and what not, and as there's 
no market now, farmin' don't pay." 
"Speaking of farming," said the Doctor, heading off the 
old man from a further expression of his views concern- 
Rotifers (Furcalaria.) 
ing the tariff, "I have been thinking about what you said 
in relation to your cold, clay soil, and I want to offer you 
a little advice. Haul upon your land about fifteen or 
twenty loads of good sand to the acre and plow it under 
and see what the effect will be." 
"Sand !" exclaimed Uncle Bob, doubtfully. "Sand 
ain't manure; there isn't a bit of manure in a cord of 
sand." 
"That's very true," was the reply; "it is not a fertilizer 
that your land so much needs as something that will 
make it light and porous, so that the rays of the sun will 
penetrate it; the sand will do this, as it will act me- 
1 chanically on the soil and make it warm"and friable. You 
try it on an acre this fall, and next spring put on another 
top dressing of sand and plow it under. You will find 
i that the effect will be magical. 
"By gum !" replied the old man, "I've been a farmer all 
my days and so was my father before me, and I've farmed 
just as he did; I never took kindly to new-fangled no- 
i tions " 
I "Hold on, Robert," exclaimed his wife. "You used to 
say you'd have no mowing machines on your farm ; that 
the scythe would cut all the grass you could grow, and 
it was better for the sward than the machine would be, 
I but when the neighbors got to using machines you bought 
one mighty quick, and I've heard you say you wouldn't 
go back to the scythe again for anything. You also 
: bought a revolving harrow and a horse rake " 
"Hold on," exclaimed the farmer; "don't talk so 
blamed fast, and don't call me down so ; the mowing ma- 
chine is all right, just the same as the horse rake and 
your sewing machine and new-pattern churn and patent 
wringer and what not, but that's nothing to do with 
tilling the sile. However, squire," he added, turning to 
' the Doctor, "I'm going to try an acre with a top dressing 
of sand, blamed if I ain't. I never expected, by gum, to 
take a leson in farmin' from a city man, but we are none 
' of us too old to l'arn something." 
"And after you have got your soil in good mellow con- 
dition, warm and porous, you can use any kind of ferti- 
lizer you wish, according to the crop you desire to grow." 
"Perhaps, Uncle Bob," said Ralph, "j^ou can then use 
your meadow muck or river mud that you used to think 
so much of." 
"Yes," said the Doctor, "you can then use it to good 
advantage, provided you have ripened it up in the sun and 
air a year or so." 
"Speaking of river mud, Doctor," said I, "you must not 
forget to examine some of it with your microscope this 
evening." 
"No, I have not forgotten my promise," he replied, "and 
perhaps our friends here will find something in it to in- 
terest them, also." 
"I'm sure we shall be delighted," exclaimed Mrs. Mur- 
fray. 
The microscope was soon adjusted, and the bowl con- 
taining the mud placed beside it. The Coaltons regarded 
the instrument with interest, but as they were ignorant 
of the Doctor's intentions, they made no comment. 
"I can see something moving in the mud, Doctor, that 
we can examine without your microscope," said Ralph. 
"Yes," he replied, "I have no doubt, there are many 
creatures in it that can be seen without the glass, or at 
| any rate by one of very low power. This is a bowlful of 
I your river mud," he added, turning to Uncle Bob, "and 
I will showyouwith the aid of my microscope some of the 
living things it contains, and organisms which would, if 
applied to your soil, prove an excellent fertilizer." 
"Yes," replied the old man, "I suppose there must be 
something alive in it." 
"Yes, indeed ; there is, I have no doubt, such a variety 
of living things scattered through it," said the Doctor, 
"that years of study might be expended on them before 
they could all be systematically examined, and their 
habits and peculiarities of life and of structure noted. 
In fact, in this small collection there is an inexhaustible 
field for the scientist to explore, for it abounds with an 
infinite variety of living forms, many of which are so 
small that thousands of them may be contained in a single 
drop of water." 
"Yes, I have often read of the little creatures," said 
Mrs. Coalton, "but I never had an opportunity of seeing 
them with a microscope." 
"Now,' of course," continued the Doctor, "I cannot 
show a great variety this evening, for the reason that all 
of us will want to examine them, and, as they will re- 
quire different sized objectives according to their size, it 
.will need considerable time to see but a few specimens, 
but we shall have other opportunities to study them, and 
I shall be very glad to contribute to your entertainment 
at any time you wish." 
He now placed on the platform of his microscope a 
strip of clear, clean glass, on Avhich was a shallow cavity 
for holding liquids, and then with a small glass tube, 
which he called a "pippette," he conveyed to it a drop or 
two of the clouded water that floated on the mud. He 
then adjusted the focus of the instrument, and for a 
few moments gazed through the eyepiece upon the ob- 
jects that were presented to view. 
"Now, Mrs. Murray," said he at length, "you can see 
some of the smaller denizens of your river." 
Mrs. Murray gazed through the instrument for a few 
moments, and then exclaimed, "Mercy on us, what a host 
of queer-looking creatures, and how some of them dart 
about and others crawl somewhat like caterpillars, but I 
cannot see any feet on them." 
"They are called rotifers or wheel animalcules," he. 
replied ; "they are more or less abundant in all ponds and 
streams, and some species are also found in salt water." 
"But why are they called wheel animalcules?" asked 
Mrs. Coalton, who had taken her place at the microscope. 
"They receive the name from the fact that they have 
two disks or sets of fringes called cilia in front of then- 
heads, which, when they are in motion, resemble wheels. 
If you watch one of the largest specimens carefully as he 
remains in the field of the microscope you will see him 
set the wheels in motion, and perhaps will notice the 
delicate fringes as they vibrate." 
"Bless my soul !" exclaimed Mr. Coalton, who had fol- 
lowed his wife at the instrument, "is it possible that all 
those strange-looking creatures are swimming around in 
a drop of water. By gum ! I can see the wheels, and as 
they whirl around, how they make the dirty water fly; 
they go for all the world like the wheel of a propeller, and 
the settlings in the water seems to fly into the mouth of 
the what you call 'ems." 
•"Yes," said the Doctor, "the rapid vibrations of the 
wheels cause a current of water to pass into the animal- 
1. The common Wheel-Animalcule, Rotifer vulgaris, with its cilia 
or rotators b, protruded; c, its horn; d, oesophagus; e, gut; f, outer 
case; g, eggs. 2. The same in a contracted state, and at rest; at 
g is _ seen the development of the young. 3. Pitcher-shaped 
Brachionus: a, its jaws; b, shell; c, cilia, or rotators; d, tail. 
4. Baker's Brachionus: a, the jaws and teeth; b, the shell; c, the 
rotators; e, the 'Stomach. 
cule bearing the food on which it subsists. You will 
notice that it does not crawl like a caterpillar exactly, but 
its elastic body is contracted and extended, the tail being 
brought forward and then the head is pushed along; the 
vibrations of the cilia also help in their progress through 
the water." 
The other members of the group followed Mr. Coalton 
in turn at the microscope, and a half-hour was consumed 
in thus examining the rotifers. 
The wheel animalcute are among the most interesting 
of microscopic subjects, and the literature relating to 
them is quite voluminous. 
Moquin Taudon in his elegant work, "The World of 
the Sea" — "Le Monde de la Mer" — gives the following in- 
teresting account of them : 
"Originally they were classed among the infusoria, 
but upon the discovery of their higher organization they 
were promoted from one class into another, until they 
Fig. 1. Showing condition of obstruction after firing. Full si: 
X6 
Fig. 2. Showing the deformation of the pellets of snot of the propelled 
charge, as a result of impact with an obstruction. Greatly enlarged. 
now occupy a place at the entrance of the class Crustacea. 
* * * The peculiar organ which has given to the race 
their appellation is fixed to the anterior part of the body, 
and consists of a lobed disc, which is usually furnished 
with vibratory cils. This organ is the fin or swimming 
apparatus, and when in motion presents the appearance 
of one or two wheels rotating in opposite directions. 
* * * -phis really violent movement for so small an 
animal often causes the rotifer to twist rapidly round on 
its own axis, as well as glide through the water, pro- 
pelled much after the fashion of a screw steamer" (back- 
ing). 
"The vibratory cils are faithful to the function we have 
so often found them performing, inducing currents of 
water to enter the system of the animal, beating the 
food and air necessary for its existence. This is economy, 
indeed, to make one organ perform several distinct offices. 
The same member which urges the animalcule through 
the drop of water, likewise causes it to eat and breathe. 
* * * The mouth, which is very large, has the shape of 
a bell. It is provided with two lateral mandibles, which 
are horny tubes, furnished near the extremity with one Of 
The Crown Animalcule (Slephunnieeros Eichornii,, 
more teeth. The digestive apparatus is by no means 
simple ; the stomach is long, and has on each side lateral 
appendages, terminating in a great intestine. The heart 
of the rotifer is in constant action, and its pulsations are 
quite discernible. * * * The wheel-bearing animal- 
cute have generally a single eye fixed in the cyclopean 
position, and, like all the eyes of the minute creation, it is 
red. Some of them have more than one; even rotifers 
with four eyes are known. The eye is sometimes placed 
upon the neck or on the back, so that the animal can only 
see about it and behind it, but not below it or in advance. 
We do not know the exact reason of this position, but the 
animal is so lively that it can matter little where the eye 
is situated. And, moreover, the rotifers have a peculiar 
power of retreating, not into their shells, for they have 
none, but into their skins, and in this form they appear 
like a ball. The eye may be placed with regard to this 
position, so that the retired creature may keep a sharp 
lookout." 
Ehrenberg declares that he finds indications of the exist- 
ence of a nervous system. It requires a stretch of im- 
agination to follow the celebrated naturalist, even to con- 
ceive a network of nerves in an animal which a grain of 
sand could effectually bury. Like most of the crustaceans, 
the rotifers are oviparous, carrying their eggs suspended 
at the root of their tails. 
Spallanzani has proved they are endowed with a won- 
derful power of life. He found that they could be dried 
and folded between the leaves of a book, and kept in this 
unnatural condition for even two years. They seem to 
be in a state of lethargy, and in apparent death ; but when 
again immersed in water they revive, and seem none the 
worse for the intermission of their vitality. 
The writer has succeeded in raising a eolony of these 
interesting little creatures, and has found them a never- 
ending source of entertainment and study. My first stock 
was obtained from the moss-covered sides of a damp 
flower pot in which an ivy plant was growing. These 
animalcules seem to prefer wet or damp moss for an 
abiding place to anything else, and I have no doubt that 
my readers can obtain all the specimens they desire from 
such a source asH have named, or from the damp moss 
on an old building. 
I found that they preserved their vitality after being 
dried in the manner described by Spellanzani, but I did 
not keep them desiccated as long as he did. 
A good-sized colony may be kept with some wet moss 
in a watch crystal, from which individuals may be lifted 
with a drop tube and examined under the microscope at 
leisure. 
Carpenter in his work on the microscope in treating of 
the rotifers, does not agree with Phof. Ehrenberg in the 
matter of these animalcules bearing eggs, stating "that 
there is strong reason for the belief that what are com- 
monly called 'eggs' are really internal gemmae," and later 
he says: "In rotifer and several other genera, the de- 
velopment of the embryo takes place while the egg is yet 
retained within the body of the parent, and the young 
are extruded alive; while in some other instances the 
eggs, after their extrusion, remain attached to the pos- 
terior extremity of the body until the young are set free. 
In general, it would seem that whether the rupture of the 
egg membrane takes place before or after the egg has left 
the body, the germinal mass within it is developed at once 
into the form of the young animal, which usually resem- 
bles- that of its parent, no preliminary metamorphoses be- 
ing gone through." 
Among the most interesting of the rotifers is the beau- 
