354 
GREENLAND VOYAGE. 
tard. Whenever the ship passed through any of 
this peculiar water, the patch or streak was di¬ 
vided, and did not again unite ; from which cir¬ 
cumstance it appeared, that the colouring matter 
was quite superficial. Suspecting it to be of an 
animal nature, a quantity of the yellowish-green 
water was procured ; and, on examination by the 
microscope, was found to contain animalcules in 
immense numbers. The larger proportion of 
these, consisting of a transparent substance of a 
lemon-yellow colour, and globular form, appeared 
to possess very little power of motion ; but a part, 
amounting, perhaps, to a fifth of the whole, were 
in continual action * Some of these being seen 
advancing by a slightly waving motion, at the 
rate of *3 5 th of an inch in a second; and others 
spinning round with considerable celerity, gave 
great interest and liveliness to the examination. 
But the progressive motion of the most active, 
however distinct and rapid it might appear under 
a high magnifying power, was, in reality, extremely 
slow ; for it did not exceed an inch in three mi¬ 
nutes. At this rate, they would require 151 
days to travel a nautical mile. The Condur, it 
is generally believed, could fly round the globe 
at the equator, assisted by a favourable gale, in 
* This kind resembled the animalcula represented in 
the “ Account of the Arctic Regions,” Plate xvi. Fig. 18. 
