200 THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



in number, till at last the mass became subdivided into 

 an aggregation of rounded or ovoid bodies each about 

 5o'oo '' in diameter. As these subdivisions v^^ere taking 

 place, the mass as a whole also separated from the unal- 

 tered pellicle by which it was surrounded. Occasionally 

 there was a distinct interval, at a certain stage, be- 

 tween the parent pellicle and this differentiating mass, 

 whose subdivisions also gradually separated from one 

 another. These subdivisions then appeared as inde- 

 pendent corpuscular organisms, bounded by a slightly 

 condensed outer layer, and containing from four to eight 

 of the altered Bacteria. 



Throughout the winter months such areas of differen- 

 tiation, and such resulting corpuscular organisms, were 

 frequently met with. The organisms seemed, during 

 such weather, to persist for a very long time without 

 undergoing any notable change (merely, perhaps, in- 

 creasing somewhat in size) j and most of them ulti- 

 mately became disintegrated without showing any 

 further development ^ They were always seen in a 



^ Areas formed in the same direct manner, and also without any notable 

 alteration in the refractive index of the contained matter, have recently 

 been seen to appear in the pellicle on a filtered maceration of hay 

 on the second day — this also being during very cold weather. These 

 areas were mostly small, though whilst the process of segmentation 

 was taking place they began to assume a brown colour. This was most 

 marked in some cases, where one end of the area was colourless and the 

 other (the furthest advanced in segmentation) was quite brown. Inter- 

 mediate portions exhibited the gradual development of the brown colour. 

 The final products of segmentation, after several processes of fission, 

 appeared in the form of small, brown, biloculated fungus-germs, closely 

 resembling those of Fig. 59, e. 



