10 JOURNAL OF THE [January, 



cells of the P.viridis, only measuring from two to ten micro-mil- 

 limetres in diameter, can do more in its small laboratory than our 

 chemists with all the room and appointments that science has sug- 

 gested — it builds its own cellulose walls from inorganic matter. 

 Chemists are hardly agreed upon the composition of cellulose and 

 the protein compounds, and, if they were, they could not introduce 

 the life principle to produce them. In looking at the cells under a 

 microscope we must be content with little more than an exterior 

 view, only dimly seeing, through the translucent walls, the won- 

 ders within. With the best objectives skilful opticians have 

 placed in our hands, which I would say in passing are among 

 the triumphs of science and art, we cannot find the door of 

 this wonderful laboratory to enter and see, much less to under- 

 stand, the contents of the crucibles, retorts, the stock of re- 

 agents and minerals used. We cannot see the prisms and lenses 

 which divide the rays of light to act upon the chlorophyll, in- 

 ducing chemical affinity, so as to produce compounds of starch, 

 sugar, or cellulose, as the case may be. No exhibit will be given 

 of the mechanism transforming light into electricity, polarizing 

 the atoms, or arranging them into different forms according to the 

 number present. We can only wonder whether the salts of 

 potassium, calcium, magnesium and sodium are of first impor- 

 tance in the compounds produced, or are bullion for the mints 

 of the higher plants. Calling to our aid the various chemical 

 reagents, we are almost equally baffled. 



Placing under the microscope Protococcus, on stone, or on a 

 piece of bark, with a power of fifty, we see budded club-shaped 

 masses, standing out in relief, with some imbedded sand and a 

 few branches of hyph^. If we remove some to a glass slide, add 

 a drop of water, and gently tap the cover glass to separate some 

 of the buds, and then view with a power of 200, cells of various 

 sizes are seen, some round, others subdividing into twos, threes, 

 fours, &c. The subdivisions into twos or fours are not as ellipti- 

 cal as those shown of P. vulgaris and P. pluvialis, but with rounder 

 ends, as shown by Kutzing. The cellulose wall is plainly seen 

 enclosing the greenish protoplasm, with a few darker spots of 

 green. Some of the cellulose sacs will be seen to be empty and 

 clear. By increasing the power to 500, the greenish spots be- 

 come larger, but generally indistinct, though this is not the case 



