128 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [PaRT 1 



The capsule (Plate VI, fig. 29), about 14[x in height, has the shape 

 of an urn, elegantly lengthened, resting by a broad, truncated base 

 on a very distinct flattened cushion, which itself is applied to the 

 substratum. From that flattened base, the lateral curve first some- 

 what contracts, but very soon dilates regularly, up to a distance 

 a little above the middle of the height of the shell; then contracts 

 again, to finally dilate in an expanded border. The protoplasmic 

 body, rounded behind and itself elegantly urn-shaped, fills only 

 half of the shell; the nucleus is very distinct, as a bluish spherule 

 about the anterior third of the body; two contractile vesicles are 

 found, one right and the other left, one posterior and the other 

 inferior, and they regularly alternate in their function, emptying 

 about each third minute; one of them, somewhat larger, seems to 

 be the principal one, the other being accessory. The f lagellum, about 

 1}/^ times as long as the body, is most of the time visible only up to 

 the middle of its length, on account of the rapid vibration of its 

 anterior portion. The protoplasmic collar, which is particularly 

 interesting, is mostly found with the appearance normal in Cras- 

 pedomonadina, being like a funnel, whose height may be equal to 

 that of the animalcule itself; but this protoplasmic funnel is sub- 

 ject to extraordinary deformations. The peculiar accumulation of 

 very pure ectoplasm which generally fills the funnel all around 

 the flagellum is seen, for instance, to move up along the funnel 

 itself (Plate VII, fig. 40), or the very thin film of hyaline plasma 

 which surrounds the plasmatic neck — perhaps the "Schleimhiille" 

 or mucilaginous layer Burck speaks of — expands and covers the 

 exterior surface; and the collar itself, now persisting, now collapsing 

 or getting mixed with the invading ectoplasm, takes on the most 

 diverse appearances. Plate VII, fig. 37, for instance, shows a short- 

 ened, thickened collar, w^hose border has especially thickened; in 

 fig. 38, the same structures are represented, one minute later than 

 in fig. 37; in fig. 39, at the same time that the ectoplasm expands 

 on the inside of the wall of the collar, it climbs up along the fla- 

 gellum; in fig. 40, the ectoplasmic film it seen left and right climb- 

 ing upwards, many more figures might have been drawn, showing 

 the most varied structure, for instance a film of plasma moving up 

 on one side only and leaving the other free, or a big plasmatic spher- 

 ule filling the entire opening of the capsule. Plate VII, fig. 36 

 gives an idea of a very peculiar process, which I was able once to 

 follow quite at length: a big mass of ectoplasmic matter protruded 

 from the mouth of the capsule, and became rounded, uniting with 

 the material of the now retracted collar, and after a few minutes, 

 from that protoplasmic spherule started lobes and thread-like pro- 

 tuberances, some of which got very thin and long, and at last reached 

 down to the supporting alga and there became affixed. After a 

 time, however, all the lobes and threads began retracting back- 

 wards. Atllh., 10 min., the appearance was that shown by fig. 36, 

 Plate VII; at llh., 30 min., everything was beginning to re-enter 

 the shell; at llh., 35 min., the rudiments of a new funnel were seen 



