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OUR FRESH-WATER POLYZOA. 
BY THE REV. W. HOUGHTON, M.A., F.L.S. 
O F all the beautiful forms of animal life that tenant the 
waters of our rivers and ponds in marvellous profusion, 
there are none, I think, that excel, and few that equal in 
elegance and interest, the Polyzoa. It is invidious, perhaps, to 
draw comparisons in nature, where all is perfect ; the naturalist 
will see as much to admire in the common earthworm as in 
the rarest and most prized zoological treasure, not that in ex- 
ternal form the humble worm recommends itself as an object 
of attraction, but because its structure, like that of every created 
thiug, is so admirably adapted to the wants and habits of the 
animal. Be this, however, as it may, there is no doubt that 
beauty of external form, although it may be the only point 
for which the uninitiated care, is an additional charm in the 
eyes of the zoologist. Who does not remember the thrill of 
pleasure that ran through him when first he beheld, through 
the magic crystals of the microscope, a group of Vortic.ellce 
with their delicate spiral stems and ciliated glassy bells? or 
who that has ever watched the beaded Melicertct mould its tiny 
round bricks, and then bend itself down and add pellet after 
pellet to its tube, will say he has not experienced a more than 
ordinary treat, and a kind of gratification which it is impossible 
to describe ? 
This is the month of April, and it is too early to attempt 
to find specimens of any of the species of Polyzoa, with 
the exception of Fredericella Sultana, of which more anon. 
Still, take your collecting bottles and pocket lens, and come 
along with me : I shall be able, I know, to teach you a useful 
lesson in the art of discovering Fresh-water Polyzoa ; for you 
must know that it is quite possible you may be living close to 
a pond in which live hundreds of one of the most prized species, 
and yet be quite unable to find a single specimen. We will go 
to this large reservoir, which supplies the canal ; here the water 
is beautifully clear, and in the summer time the willows and 
alders on the margins of the bank form a pleasant shade, and 
ever and anon let fall their dead branches into the water, a 
VOL. II. — NO. VII. Y 
