Excerpt from Monograph on the Anguillulidæ, or Free Nematoids, Marine, Land, and Freshwater: With Descriptions of 100 New SpeciesAs a result of my investigations, I am inclined to believe that these free Nematodes will be found to constitute one of the most widely diffused and numerically abundant groups in the whole animal kingdom, rivalling, in the first respect at least, the almost. Ubiquitous Diatomaceae. A statement of some of the principal situations in which I have met with these animals will best illustrate this proposition. Thus, beginning with the land and freshwater-species, I have found them in all the specimens of soil examined, in\ moss, various species of lichen, about the roots of fungi also the roots of grasses, and between the sheaths of their leaves, amongst the mud of ponds and rivers, on the fresh water Algae, amidst decaying liverworts and mosses, and on submerged aquatic plants The marine species exist in great abundance in the surface-mud of rivers and estuaries in the sand, and amongst the small stony debris under the shelter of rocks, as well as in the tide-pools, where they swarm about the roots of the corallines and on some of the smaller and finer sea-weeds, especially those having a dingy appearance from the pre sence of Diatomaceae. And, lastly, two or three species I have found in the greatest abundance, as pseudo-parasites, within the substance of some of the softer sponges. So numerous are they in these latter situations, that it is rather surprising they should have so long escaped the attention of marine zoologists. From the transparency of their in teguments, they are not only beautiful microscopical objects, but also admirably adapted for anatomical research, and Dr. Eberth and myself have already worked out so many interesting structural details, that I have no doubt, should the investigation he followed up by other observers, the question of the anatomy and real affinities of the Nematoids, at present so doubtful, would be soon placed upon a satisfactory footing.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.