THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— June 10,1850. 
197 
fatigued; the plant, extended from the mouth to the vent, 
like a covering of velvet; the scales at the points attacked 
loosened and fell off: the parts affected were evidently 
enlarged, reddened, spotted with blood spots, and occa¬ 
sionally ulcerated; the fish appeared to move with pain, 
lay on their sides, or back, and these symptoms usually 
preceded death for only ten hours.” To complete its history, 
I may mention that it has been met upon dead (lies (Gcetlie 
and Nees) ; on the dead larvre of the laud salamander in 
water (Carns), on dead mollusca (Gruithiuisen) ; on the 
wounded toes of the Triton Punctntur (Hannover) ; upon a 
wounded eel (Eg. St. Pierre); upon the eggs of Limux 
Agrestis (Laurent), and of Lymmva Stagnalis (Valentin) ; 
upon both the ova and wounded body of Cyprinus Nasus 
(Valentin) ; upon the eggs of the stickleback or Gasteros- 
teus (by M. Coste) ; and it is even stated that the current 
of water through their nests is probably intended to prevent 
similar occurrences. Valentin has also noticed it on the 
eggs of the Bufo Ohstetricus; Pennant described it as it 
occurred upon roach kept in glass vessels, and it is well 
known to attack various sjiecies of carp, especially our well- 
known favourite, the Cyprinus Auratus, or gold fish. Of its 
occurrence on this animal we have a description by Dr. 
Bennett, in the Edin. Philos. Transactions. Finally, 
Kutzing has described three species (which I believe to be 
all identical), one of which is termed the Saprolegnia 
Xylophilla, and found growing upon twigs in water. I, too, i 
have likewise in iny researches obtained it growing upon 1 
twigs, identical in its nature with his drawings and with the i 
plant as it grows upon the bodies of living and dead gold 
tish, and derived originally from them. Further research 
on this subject has obtained for me the information that 
(what is probably the same plant) the Saprolegnia Capitu- 
lifera has been observed by Alex. Braun (Rejuvencence of 
Nature) to develope freely on decaying pieces of Nuphar 
pufniliilni, and also rapidly to attach itself to flies falling ! 
into the water in the localities where it thus grows on the [ 
plant. 
This plant (which fully deserves its name of Saprolegnia 
ferox) as it fell under my notice, occurred amongst a 
number of young gold fish (about twenty-five) kept in a 
parlour, contained in a round glass jar along with four 
young minnows. The gold fish had been obtained from 
the Botanic Gardens of the Royal Dublin Society at 
Glasnevin, in September, 1855, having been bred there in 
the Victoria Lily house during the previous summer months. 
They were of small size, varying in length from one to two 
inches ; and as I had obtained them for the purpose of 
making a series of observations upon the changes which 
they undergo in colour during their growth, I had them in 
every stage—gold, silver coloured, and white, and also dull 
brown. On the 28th January, 1850,1 first noticed that two 
of these fish each had an extremely beautiful white tuft, 
resembling somewhat the appearance of common mould, 
upon their side. The extent of this patch of vegetation 
was not more than the size of a spangle. The fish were 
swimming about briskly, and appeared in perfect health, 
and I am certain there could not have been any extent of 
this plant—at least sufficient to be visible to the eye— 
preseut upon them twenty-four hours previously. 1 instantly 
isolated the two attacked for observation, washed out the 
jar, and replaced the other fish in it. They were still to all 
appearance healthy to the most minute scrutiny. In the 
course of twelve hours more the plant had rapidly extended 
in the two fish, occupying fully twice as much of the surface 
as it did in the morning, and next morning (twenty-four 
hours) it had spread over more than half the body, reaching 
from the nose to the ventral aperture. One was completely 
dead at ten a.m., and the other died early next day (30th 
January). As the plant extended over their bodies they 
appeared to be stiff, and swam as if moving with difficulty, 
seeking the lop of the water; they afterwards seemed 
unable to do even this, sank to the bottom, and lay there 
sluggishly on their sides or in their usual positions. Previous 
to this one of them appeared for a time to become top- 
heavy, his head sinking down so far as to threaten to turn 
him completely round on his back, and he made great and 
evidently painful efforts to regain his usual level condition. 
After death the plant still continued to grow over their 
bodies, developing on the snout and over the mouth, and on 
the fins and tail. After a few days the plant manifested 
itself amongst others of the fish in rapid succession, up¬ 
wards of half of them dying within twenty days from its 
first appearance amongst them (the minnow escaping its 
ravages). Those that last died presented visibly merely 
the appearance of white films extending over their bodies 
and dangling from their fins and tail, and did not develop 
during life the full-grown plant with its tubuli, although in 
some it became sufficiently evident after death, and reached 
its perfect state and formed its zoospores. On most of these j 
attacked at this time I noticed red bruise-like marks behind 
the gills, and especially upon the lower jaw, and in some also ! 
on the upper; similar appearances occurred around the ven¬ 
tral aperture, and in two or three upon the sid?s; but these 
first attacked did not present such appearances, nor did 
those which died more recently. When attacked, my atten¬ 
tion would usually be attracted to them by their rising to the i 
top of the water and swimming in a peculiar uneasy manner, 
as if stiff or pained as they attempted to move, afterwards 
they became more and more languid and sank to the bottom, 
breathing at longer intervals than in health and irregularly, 
and dying usually' as if suffocated, with their gill covers widely 
distended and the gills visible. I may here state that I exa¬ 
mined these fish most carefully after death, their gills espe¬ 
cially, the most external of the branchiae were in parts loaded 
with masses of germinating spores of the plant, which evi¬ 
dently had the effect of destroying their structure and disin¬ 
tegrating them, stripping off the fine-lobed capillary processes 
from the denser cartilaginous structure, and finally loosening 
the cartilages and recrossing them. The developed plant 
consisted of very fine fibres, forming dense interlacing 
masses, which somewhat resembled the fine nap on velvet. 
The fibres were of rather tough consistence. Those I at first 
obtained were straight and unbranched, afterwards I found 
a branched condition equally common. The tubuli contained 
an amorphous mucilaginous fluid, with masses of globules, 
aggregated in very unequal amount in various parts—the 
larger were evidently oil spots, and almost filled the di¬ 
ameter of the smaller tubes ; others were more minute, and 
multitudes were so small as merely to present the appear¬ 
ance of the finest dots—these distinctly exhibited “ Brown’s 
movements ”—and in some instances I had fine views of the 
more perfect circulation, termed “cyclosis." ’The tubuli 
rarely had partitions ; they ended when sterile in blunt tops, 
gradually tapering upwards, and in oval capsules when fer¬ 
tile. I could trace all the stages of the formation of these 
capsules. First the granular matter developing more densely 
at the upper part of the tube than elsewhere, so as to give 
it a distinct brownish colour, the top then becoming dilated 
into an ovoid form, and the granular matter still thickening 
and becoming separated from the ordinary contents of the 
tube, and the septa rapidly forming by the inflexion of the 
utricle. Afterwards, as exactly described by Unger, the 
fructification progressed towards its development, the gra¬ 
nular matter continuing to become more dense and opaque, 
and in its structure numbers of comparatively clearer spaces 
formed, which increasing, at last showed the capsule filled 
with from twenty to fifty zoospores arranged like the meshes 
of a network, and having still some granular matter evident 
at the sides of the capsules. I then distinctly noticed a 
movement of the four anterior zoospores (this I wish to state 
distinctly, as I find that Alexander Brann, whose accuracy of 
observation is so well known, states that in “ Cerbesia, Sapro¬ 
legnia, and Chytridium the motion” which commonly oc¬ 
curs in other families, “ does not become evident until after 
the birth of the previously crowded germ cells ”—I have also 
been able to verify this movement more than once) previous 
to their escape from the mother cell, one of them applying 
itself to the flask-like orifice, and gradually forcing its way 
out; evidently, as sketched, undergoing considerable pres¬ 
sure in the process, which probably, in this instance, occu¬ 
pied half an hour. Its escape was soon followed by that of 
the other zoospores, generally emerging two by two, one 
succeeding the other with great rapidity, and darting out for 
some distance (at least half the length of the capsule) into 
the water; they then, after a short rest, floated off right and 
left with evident motive power, and the other cells in the 
capsule in their turn began to exhibit independent move¬ 
ments and to escape; finally, the entire got out leaving the 
capsule empty, the process taking altogether half an hour, 
