400 THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



The bright green vesicles were massed together in the 

 midst of a clear and almost motionless protoplasmic 

 substance, which was always quite evident at the peii- 

 phery (Fig. 79, a). .The included chlorophyll corpuscles, in 

 the course of a few hours, began to decolourize, passing 

 through the usual shades of olive green and brownish 

 tints, till the whole mass became converted into almost 

 colourless protoplasm. During this process it happened 

 in some cases that Actinophrys-like rays were pushed 

 out from the clear border, by means of which the masses 

 very slowly moved from place to place. As the process 

 of decolourization went on more rays were emitted, 

 and the creatures became more and more active, whilst 

 vacuoles developed in their interior — so as to form 

 (after forty-eight hours or less) most perfect specimens 

 of Actinophrys, altogether similar to those which are 

 formed in Vaucheria filaments. Their subsequent fate 

 was not accurately determined, although thousands of 

 them were sometimes present at the same time within 

 a single dying internode. 



More frequently, however, another change was seen. 

 During the process of decolourization the masses re- 

 mained spherical and almost motionless, and pushed 

 forth no rays. They soon became finely granular bodies, 

 having a yellowish brown colour in the central parts, 

 though the edge of the masses (either all round or partly 

 round their circumference) had become completely 

 decolourized and more refractive in appearance {b). 

 Sometimes these spheres contained a blackish brown, 



