BIOLOGY. 205 



the gelatinous substance of the araceba, we see it grow fainter and 

 fainter, as its nutritious constituents become dissolved by the cor- 

 rosive action of the same transj^aront but chemically active jelly ; 

 and, when all the goodness has been got out of the meal, the body 

 of the eater flows away from the indigestible remains, just in the 

 same way that it flowed around the original morsel. 



"We have in this a creature, then, eating without a stomach, 

 moving without muscles and without limbs, feeling without 

 nerves, and, we may add, breathing without lungs, and nutrition 

 without blood. The amoeba is a being of no constant outline, of 

 no fixed shape, which changers its form according to its moods and 

 its needs, and turns its outside into its inside whenever it pleases, 

 which is without organs, without tissues, without unlike parts, a 

 mere speck of living matter all alike all over. And yet, in the 

 midst of this simi^licity, it enjoys all the fundamental powers, and 

 fulfils all the essential duties, of an animal body, and is, more- 

 over, bound by chains of close-joined links with those complicated 

 forms of animal life which are provided with special mechanisms 

 for the most trifling of their wants. 



" The dormant capabilities of this organless being are indirectly 

 and interestingly shown by the shells which, in allied forms, are 

 built up by the agency of similar homogeneous living matter, and 

 which are, in many cases, ' structures of extraordinary complex- 

 ity and most singular beauty.' Prof. Huxley, in his lectures, 

 most justly says : — 



•' ' That this particle of jelly is capable of combining physical 

 forces in such a manner as to give rise to those exquisite and al- 

 most mathematically arranged structures — being itself structure- 

 less, and without permanent distinction or separation of parts — 

 is, to my mind, a fact of the profoundest significance.' " 



GLYCERINE FOR PRESERVING NATURAL COLORS OF MARINE 



ANIMALS. 



While collecting on the coast of Maine last summer, I made 

 numerous experiments with glycerine, most of which were emi- 

 nently satisfactory. At the present time, I have a large lot of 

 specimens which have the colors perfectly preserved, and nearly 

 as brilliant as in life. Among these are many kinds of Crustacea, 

 such as shrimp and prawns, amphipods and entomostraca ; also 

 many species of starfishes, worms, sea-anemones. The starfishes 

 and Crustacea are particularly satisfactory. The internal parts 

 are as well preserved as the colors ; tind in these animals the form 

 is not injured by contraction, as it is apt to be in soft-bodied ani- 

 mals, either by alcohol or glycerine. The only precaution taken 

 was to use very heavy glycerine, and to keep up the strength by 

 transferring the specimens to new as soon as tiiey had given out 

 water enough to weaken it much, repeating the transfer two or 

 three times, according to the size or number of specimens, or 

 until the water was all removed. The old can be used again for 

 the first bath. In many cases, the specimens, especially Crustacea, 



