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481 
quite familiar to all observers, and it will be remembered that 
I noted their occurrence in the second division of the Histolytic 
Scale. I have in some instances witnessed the abundant de- 
velopment of monads and vibrios as early as the second day, 
and under certain circumstances they exist in parts still in con- 
nexion with the living organism. As the investigation of these 
living forms did not appear to come directly within the scope 
of my researches, I took no further notice of them than briefly 
to assign them their proper place on the scale. In prosecuting 
further researches, however, I have observed, what no doubt 
ought to have presented itself to my mind in the first instance, 
namely, that these animalcules become an element of com- 
plexity, and also of great additional interest in the study of 
the general process of Histolysis, not, as might be supposed, 
from the possibility of their being confounded with the debris 
of the tissues under investigation, but from the fact that being 
themselves subject to the all-pervading law of mortality, when 
they have sported their hour on the stage they in their turn 
die, and then undergo putrefactive changes, and mingle their 
remains with the other decaying elements around them. I 
have also observed the occurrence of certain microscopic forms 
of vegetation; protophyta of the simplest kind, such as very 
minute cells both isolated and aggregated, vegetable filaments, 
and certain algal forms, being developed in considerable quan- 
tities. Under favourable conditions of light I have been ena- 
bled in almost all instances to detect a faint greenish colour 
in all these vegetable forms; with sulphuric acid, and a solu- 
tion of iodine in iodide of potassium, they usually assume a 
yellowish tinge, their internal appearances become much more 
readily seen, and they are themselves distinguishable with 
great facility from the surrounding elements. At a further 
stage it is probable these vegetable elements likewise undergo 
decay. . 
‘These observations add a new interest to the study of 
Histolysis, and also throw light on some points on which I was 
