CONFERVA. 47 



so gradually and imperceptibly do their confines 

 blend, that it is at present utterly out of his 

 power to define exactly where vegetable exist- 

 ence ceases, and animal life begins.'' 



In some of the fresh-water Conferva which 

 form the green slimy patches seen in ponds, the 

 reproductive organs are the little green grains 

 filling the transparent tubes of which the plant 

 is composed. These, when ripe, leave the tubes, 

 and have a very visible, and voluntary movement 

 in the water, so like animal life, that they have 

 in that state been taken for animalcules. But 

 the Conferva comoides, growing on the coasts 

 of Picardy and Normandy, and mentioned in a 

 work entitled ' Observations stir les Limites qui 

 separent le regne vegetal du regne animal,' is of 



