214 THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE, 



character, dependent upon sudden contractions of por- 

 tions of the body of the organism rather than upon 

 movements of its flagellum. After fifty-five minutes 

 the corpuscle unfortunately became hidden, owing to 

 its having floated underneath a portion of the pellicle. 

 How far the rapidity of the evolution of the flagellum, 

 and its subsequent movements, were impaired by the 

 glare of artificial light to which the organism was sub- 

 jected, cannot be said. Certainly, however, the flagel- 

 lum seems to be thrown out much more rapidly in other 

 cases. Speaking of simple organisms of this kind, 

 Dr. T. R. Lewis says ^ : — *■ Frequently a succession of 

 pseudopodia are seen projected in a wave-like manner, 

 as if lashing the fluid.' And again of other similarly 

 active animalcules he says: — '^Sometimes one flagellum 

 is seen, a posterior one ; at others, an anterior one also, 

 both being retractile at will; and another may be 

 darted forth out of any portion of its body.' Again, 

 where tailed 'zoospores' are produced from Algse, or from 

 such Fungi as Achlya and Cystopus^ they are also evolved 

 most rapidly — two hours often sufficing for the entire 

 production of a brood of such flagellated Monads from 

 the segmentation of a mass of formless protoplasm. 



Monads, indeed, are frequently produced from the 

 'pellicle' in precisely the same maanner as that by 

 which they arise within the terminal chambers of certain 



^ * Report on the Microscopic Objects found in Cholera Evacuations, 

 &c.' Calcutta, 1870, pp. 33 and 26. 



