THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 453 



were not themselves the direct descendants of Mosses. 

 Many facts, however, which have been made known, 

 both before and since the date of these observations, 

 seem to favour the possibility of the occurrence of such 

 a metamorphosis. It has been affirmed to take place, 

 for instance, by Prof. Schaaffhausen^, although more posi- 

 tive information to the same effect had long previously 

 been supplied by Dr. Gros. The latter says ^ ; — ^ Des 

 essais fait avec soin prouvent que Ton peut semer des 

 animaux et recolter des plantes. En eiTet, de la marne, 

 prise a 20 pieds de profondeur, fut ensemencee d'Eu- 

 glenes et recouverte d'un disque de verre. Les Euglenes 

 se mirent a se parifisser, et donnerent les unes des 

 animalcules qui mourirent, les autres des cellules qui 

 se convertirent en Navicules, les troisiemes donnerent 

 des cellules qui se mirent a vegeter, non seulement 

 comme les Conferves aquatiques, m.ais comme des 

 Mousses aericoles qui atteignait 13 millimetres de 

 hauteur a la fin des experiences. La parifissure, le 

 commencement de vegetation, la multiplication des cel- 

 lules vegetales avaient ete constates tous les jours avec 

 le microscope/ And if doubts may be entertained with 

 regard to the conclusiveness of these observations, owing 

 to the possibility of the chance introduction of a few real 

 Moss-germs, which during their g-ermination were not 

 discriminated from the fissiparously-produced descend- 

 ants of Euglense — such doubts are wholly inadmissible 



^ 'Cosmos,' i(S63, t. xxii. p. 631. 



2 'Ann. des Sc. Nat.' 1852 (Zool), p, 201. 



