494 ^^^^ BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



slowly increased in size, whilst at the same time the 

 cyst-wall became thinner and thinner- and the con- 

 tained mass, after having assumed a mamellonated 

 appearance, again became finely-granular (c, </). After 

 a time the embryos began to rotate within their cysts, 

 although at this stage no cilia were to be detected. 

 Such changes were frequently observed, but it was 

 some time before M. Pineau was enabled to make out 

 any further alterations. The infusion contained, in 

 addition to the multitudes of VorticelliE, a crowd of 

 much more minute organisms, amongst which were 

 included Monads and small Amoebae. But there were 

 also some large specimens of Oxytrichse, whose dimen- 

 sions far exceeded that of any of these other organisms. 

 The mode of origin of the Oxytrich^ was for a time 

 just as obscure as the ultimate changes undergone by 

 the contents of the Vorticella cyst, till at last M. Pineau 

 discovered other spherical bodies {e) in the midst of a 

 mass of the oviform cysts, equal in size to the largest of 

 them, ^ mais denues d'enveloppe_, et munis de cils gros et 

 rares, qui rapellaient entierement ceux des Oxytriques ; 

 si ce n'est que leur mouvements etaient lents, et 

 que leur consistance paraissait plus molle.' M. Pineau 

 adds: — 'Sur d'autres globules, les cils formaient, en 

 outre, une bande diagonale, indice de celle qui accom- 

 pagne la bouche chez les Oxytriques entierement deve- 



loppes Enfin on en voyait qui afFectaient des 



formes plus ou moins ovalaires, de telle sorte qu'on 

 arrivait par des transitions insensibles a la forme de 



