TENACITY OF LIFE. 



21 



By allowing the drop of water which held them 

 to evaporate, and at the end of twenty-four hours 

 giving them a fresh supply, he succeeded six 

 times in restoring some of them : at last two 

 only were left, and these unfortunately he lost. 

 Ehrenberg affirms, that if thoroughly desiccated 

 they cannot revive, but that they may remain in 

 a lethargic condition if deprived of water for a 

 certain time only. The same naturalist observes 

 that when an animalcule is frozen with the 

 water, it is surrounded by an exceedingly small 

 portion which is unfrozen, occasioned probably 

 by the animal heat of its body; but, should 

 the cold be so great as to freeze this, the crea- 

 ture dies. Animal heat in such an atom ! how 

 marvellous ! Yet they will bear a great degree 



