170 



LIFE S BEGINNING ON THE EARTH 



is such an awkward piece of material to be managed? There seem to be 

 only two possibilities for getting such a long thread into a short Amoeba. 

 One is to cut it into lengths, the other to coil it up. Amoeba has no teeth 

 for cutting up the thread, so it adopts the plan of coiling it. Individuals 

 engaged in this process are sometimes found among the specimens studied 

 in the laboratory. 



The Amoeba first settles itself upon the filament somewhere in its length, 

 and envelops a portion of it. It stretches out a slight distance along the 



Fin. 67. Ingestion of a Thread-like Alga by Amoeba 



The tiny lump of protoplasm, the so-called Amoeba, handles :i long 

 thread of alga many times its own length in the manner indicated on the 

 diagram. (Magnified 50 times.) 



thread, then bends over, of course bending the filament at (lie same time. 

 The bending is continued until there is a loop formed within the Amoeba. 

 The animal now continues to stretch out along the two ends and to bend 

 them over, till the loop is doubled, tripled, and a coil is in process of forma- 

 tion. This is continued until the entire filament is rolled up into a neat 

 little coil within the Amoeba, where it is digested. (Fig. 67.) 



What are we to say to such a clever solution of a somewhat difficult 



