THE ENTOMOSTRACA OF EPPING FOREST. 203
largely with enormous numbers of Bosmina cornuta. There were
also a good many specimens of a Daphnia (? D. cucullata) and a
few each of Alona quadrangularis, Camptocerens rectirostris, Chydorus
sphaericus, &c. In addition to these Entomostraca there were
some masses of an animal tissue which I could not determine (of
some mollusc perhaps), and a few other odds and ends, such as a
Rotifer, a Water-mite larva, an Insect larva, a few pieces of
fresh-water sponge, &c. The second, taken at the same time as
the first, did not yield many Entomostraca, but among the few
present were the remains of a species (Monospilus tenuirostris) that
had never before been obtained in the Forest district. The
third, obtained last October, yielded numerous individuals of
about twelve species of Entomostraca, some pelagic and some
bottom forms. In addition to these there were a great many
adult Water-mites (Atax crassipes) in its stomach, and, as usual,
various other miscellaneous objects.
The above notes, although very meagre, are enough to
show that some at least of our fishes do feed directly upon
Entomostraca. Moreover it must be borne in mind when con-
sidering this subject that the latter not only serve directly as
food, but that they also serve indirectly, as they are eaten by
other animal forms, e.g., Water-mites, Insect larvae, &c., which
in their turn become the prey of various species of fishes. The
whole subject of the direct and indirect relationship of the
Entomostraca to fishes is a very interesting one, and notwith-
standing the great amount of work already accomplished in this
connection, it is still one upon which further research is urgently
required.
It may not be out of place to note here that it is quite
within the bounds of possibility that the fresh-water Entomos-
traca will some day be used directly as food by man himself.
The marine forms have already been eaten repeatedly (the latest
note on the subject is by Prof. Herdman in Nature, 14th Oct.,
1897, p. 565), and there seems no reason to think that the fresh-
water species would be less serviceable in this respect than their
relatives in the sea. No one who has collected Entomostraca in
some of the more prolific of our larger lakes and seen the layer
of oil which forms on the surface of the water containing
concentrated gatherings, will have any doubt as to the sufficient
abundance of the fresh-water Entomostraca to serve as human
food or of their nutritiousness.