382 THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



produced by the formation of a globule of glutinous 

 matter or protoplasm, which jfirst isolates itself, and 

 then, leaving the substance of which it previously 

 formed part, develops fine rays on its surface, which 

 often attain a considerable length. Nicolet says : — 

 'The Amoeba lives under this form for several days, 

 and takes the name of Actinophrys. It has been 

 called Actinophrys sol., when its substance is purged 

 from the colouring matter, which it almost always 

 swallows soon after its formation/ 



And according to Nicolet, the changes which take 

 place in some of the lowest aquatic animals after death, 

 when they remain immersed in their medium, are very 

 similar to those which occur in a piece of decaying 

 Spirogyra or other fresh-water Algse. A similar pro- 

 duction of Amoebae takes place from altered portions 

 of the dead organisms. He says ' : — ' As soon as 

 the internal substance of the body of the animal 

 becomes modified by decomposition, portions of the 

 glutinous matter become isolated, and form globules of 

 different sizes, more or less coloured by the food parti- 

 cles which had remained in suspension in the liquid. 

 These globules issue slowly from the dead body, draw- 

 ing themselves out, and sometimes leaving a portion of 

 their substance behind j they then follow the line of 

 development I have previously indicated.' They be- 



^ Loc. cit., p. 31, and Pi. ii. figs, 9-18, in which M. Nicolet repre- 

 sents the origin of such organisms from a dead Tardigrade, and also 

 some of their subsequent changes. 



