A Manual of the Infusoria; Including a Description of all known Flagellate, Ciliate, and Tentaculiferous Protozoa

Abstract

THE Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London for the year 1677 contain the first published account of the minute organisms to which the term “Infusoria” is now very generally applied. The account is by “Mr. Antony van Leeuwenhoek,” who, taking up the line of study so successfully pursued by his compatriot, Swammerdam, was the first to apply the microscope to the investigation of the otherwise invisible fauna and flora which teem in inconceivable abundance in the waters of ponds, rivers, and seas, in the infusions of organic substances prepared by man's agency, and in even the minutest drops of moisture which accumulate on the surfaces of natural objects. A Manual of the Infusoria; Including a Description of all known Flagellate, Ciliate, and Tentaculiferous Protozoa. By W. Saville Kent, F.L.S., F.Z.S. (London: David Bogue, 1882.)