ORGANIC LIFE. 9 



closely do these two affinities approach each other in the range 

 of their actions, that there is on the one hand the drop of resin, 

 gum, or mucus, held together by the natural chemical affinity, 

 and on the other hand, there are certain living- beings so exceed- 

 ingly simple in structure that they may be compared to a drop 

 of gum or mucus, but from which they are distinguished by 

 being held together and animated by the affinity which is called 

 the principle of life. These creatures are so simple that under 

 the most powerful microscopes of the present day they appear 

 like drops of gum or starch, and in fact they would not be rec- 

 ognized as living beings, I mean to say, in the most literal 

 sense, that they could not be distinguished from the gum-drop 

 did they not move, and take in food, even living animals as a 

 prey, which they digest in the most simple manner. 



The creatures to which I refer are commonly known as the 



Protean animalcules, on account 

 of their changeable form. This 

 diagram (fig. 1) represents the one 

 which is called by scientific men, 

 Amoeba. The three figures repre- 

 sent the various forms which I 

 have seen the same individual assume, whilst I had it under the 

 microscope, as it crept over the water-plants upon which it is 

 accustomed to dwell. The most usual form which it assumed 

 is that of an elongated oval (A), but from time to time the sides 

 of its body would project either in the form of simple bulgings 

 (B), or suddenly it would spread out from several parts of the 

 body (C), as if it were falling apart ; just as you must have seen 

 a drop of water do on a dusty floor, or a drop of oil on the sur- 

 face of water; and then again it retracted these transparent 

 arms and became perfectly smooth and rounded, resembling a 

 drop of slimy, mucous matter, such as is oftentimes seen about 

 the stems of aquatic plants. But what gave character to this 



Fiji. 1- Amoeba diffluens. Ehr. The Protean animalcule. 100 diam. A, B, 

 C, the three attitudes of the same individual, a, the head. The arrows indi- 

 cate the course of the circulating food. Original. 





