EPPING FOREST
POND LIFE OF THE FOREST
By Dr. M. C. Cooke
It seems hard to realise that there is a world of
animal and vegetable life, which is scarcely dis-
cernible by the naked eye, and was quite unknown,
except in a few particulars, to our ancestors of one
hundred years ago. And yet the perfection of the
microscope, and the accession of such a crowd of
manipulators, has rendered the study of pond life,
as well as that of other minute organisms, one of
the features of the age. In works which treat of
the natural history of any district it is no longer
permissible to ignore the " infinitely little," and
leave the noble army of field workers with the
microscope out of consideration. It is undoubtedly
true that there are a large number of earnest
amateurs in science, who trouble little about our
Forest quadrupeds or birds, except for their hairs
or feathers, and the parasites which flourish
amongst them ; or for our trees and wild flowers,
except for the spots and distortions of their leaves,
and the objects which cause them.
The lover of nature is no less interested in the
hidden mysteries of the ponds, pools, and swamps
of the Forest, than in its beech and hornbeam, and
is as anxious for the preservation of objects almost
invisible, as of the monarchs of the Forest and the
beauties of the glade. For such as these there are
ample fields of research, without in the least de-
tracting from the general utility of the Forest to
those who care for none of these things. The
water area of the Forest is considerable, in addition