Ixxvi THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



the observation, do not interfere with the above results, 

 when we consider the immense number of the Phytozoa 

 and their uniform and contemporaneous transformations. If 

 about a dozen preparations are made, if they are carefully 

 covered with a bell-glass after each observation, and if care 

 be taken not to extend the observations for too long a time 

 at once, at least half of the preparations will be free from all 

 admixture of foreign organisms. ' 



Itzigsohn's observations on the developmental changes 

 undergone by certain OscillataricB have also made known 

 some most startling transformations, concerning which further 

 particulars are given under another section (p. Ixxxiii). 



Fungi. We have hitherto been calling attention to the 

 variability of Algae and Lichens, and also to the relations exist- 

 ing between Lichens and Mosses on the one hand, and 

 certain Algae on the other. Fungi cannot, however, be ex- 

 cluded from this group of related forms. Different opinions 

 have been held by the most eminent naturalists as to whether 

 Lichens are most nearly allied to Algae or to Fungi — so closely 

 are some of them related to certain forms belonging to both 

 of these families. On the one hand, the mode of fructification 

 of the Lichens, by spore-bearing asci, approximates them to 

 Fungi ; whilst on the other, the development of chorophyll — 

 containing gonidia in their interior, and their dependence for 

 nutriment upon the medium in which they exist rather than 

 upon the mere matrix on which they are situated, are thought 

 to affiliate them to the Algse. The Rev. M. J. Berkeley 

 believes that the relationship is stronger between Lichens and 

 Fungi than between Lichens and Algae. He says : — ' In 

 Lichens, the very simplest display perfect fruit, resembling 

 altogether that of Fungi, insomuch that, of many species 

 belonging to either group, it is almost impossible, in the 



