174 PROTOZOA 



defunct as a species name and is raised to subgeneric status? The 

 first question could be answered in the affirmative without neces- 

 sarily giving an affirmative answer to the second question. There 

 might be good grounds for objecting to this mass baptism, in 

 spite of concluding that the varieties are nevertheless species. To 

 this extent the two questions are independent. On the other 

 hand, if each variety should be given a specific name, then this 

 answer to the second question automatically answers the first 

 question. The second question is therefore considered first and 

 is alone dealt with in this section. 



The decision as to whether the varieties should be given spe- 

 cific names depends, in my opinion — and I believe there would 

 be general agreement on this — upon the feasibility of identifica- 

 tion of the varieties by means available to working biologists, 

 means that do not present unreasonable demands. Hence, before 

 a decision can be reached, the known differences among the 

 varieties must be summarized in sufficient detail to make clear 

 whether they could reasonably be utilized in the practical job 

 of identification. At the same time other probable differences, not 

 yet known or not sufficiently known, will be considered in order 

 to answer the related question of whether other useful differences 

 might be available for the same purpose. 



At this point the reader must be prepared to abandon some 

 common, but grossly erroneous, ideas about the Protozoa. Many 

 of them, including Paramecium are far from simple, either in 

 structure or in life processes. Nor are all those which go by a 

 single name pretty much alike. On the contrary, when one at- 

 tends closely to those going under a single name, such as 

 P. aiirelia, studying in various ways samples of populations col- 

 lected from far and wide around the world, one marvels at the 

 complexity and variety of their lives. This section, which por- 

 trays this situation, will doubtless overwhelm the reader in 

 much the same way as the investigator who devotes his life to 

 studying these creatures is overwhelmed by their seemingly end- 

 less diversities which he slowly and with great labor discovers. 

 So, reader, you can scarcely be more overwhelmed than I am. 

 Indeed, not so much so. For I know, as you cannot, how pitifully 



