RH1ZOPODA. 



(pseudopodia) from various parts of the body, as if it 

 were falling apart ; then it retracts these transparent feet 

 and becomes perfectly smooth and rounded, resembling a 

 drop of slimy, mucous mat- 

 ter. The body-mass is di- 

 vided into a clear cortical and 

 a medullary, granular mass ; 

 the outer highly contractile, 

 the inner granular portion 

 acting virtually as a stock of 



fnnrl Timer, frrnnnloe lil-n Fi ~ 10 " Amffba diffluens Ehr. A, the 

 IOOC1. InCbC granules, Jlke ]ef t ,hanl figure, the most usual form ; the 



flip trvqins of rhlmvmli vll in "tf lu shows rhe broad, flat pseudopodia; 

 IJie grams OI ClUOlOpnyil 111 , h e arrows indicate the direction of circula- 



vegetable cells and in dia- tionof the granules.- After dark, 

 toms and desmids, circulate in regular, fixed currents, the 

 arrows in the figure indicating the course of the circulating 

 food. The act of circulation is probably assisted by a con- 

 tractile vesicle (or 

 vacuole) usually 

 present. There is 

 besides a distinct 

 organ always pres- 

 ent, the nucleus (see 

 Fig. 11), so that the 

 Amoeba earns the 

 right to be called 

 an organism. Its 

 food consists of one- 

 celled algie, diatoms, 

 desmids, zoospores, 

 and portions of fila- 

 mentous algse, and it 

 possesses the power 

 of discrimination in 



Fig. 11. Amce,ba spharoroccus. A, before division. . 



7?, the same in its resting stage; a, cyst or cell-wall; taking its lOOd. Pile 

 <l, body-mass; c, nucleus; b, nucleolus. 6', Amreba 



nearly divided. D, two young Amoebae, the result of AmO3Ua lias the DOW- 

 di vision. After Haeckel. ,. . . 



er 01 moving in par- 



ticular directions, stretching a millimetre in length ; 



it 



selects appropriate food, and can engulf or swallow, digest 

 and distribute the lood thus absorbed to various portions of 



