29 



body ; and, indeed, Greef s figures so depict them. Amongst 

 these long radial spines there occur a fewer number of others, 

 not attaining half their length (in Irish examples say about 

 one thirdj, still more slender, also discoid at the base, but 

 notably more widely furcate at the apex. The pseudopodia 

 are long, delicate, colourless, and granuliferous, and by both 

 Greef and Grenadier described as possessing an axis like those 

 of Actinophrys. For so far all this is apparent on even a 

 superficial examination, and it accords, too, Avith Grenacher's 

 description of his form, the main difference being that he 

 represents the bifurcation of the apex of the longer spines 

 as less pronounced and less divergent than in Carter's, and 

 they are said to reach in length only half of the dia- 

 meter of the body ; thus, indeed, more approaching in this 

 regard Actinojjhrys viridis (Ehr.), but still they are far fev/er 

 and far less crowded than in Ehrenberg's figure. A new 

 point brought forward by Grenadier is the existence in the 

 centre of the globular sarcode mass, of a little pale body or 

 cavity from which proceed in an everywhere radiant manner, 

 from the very centre numerous pale, delicate threads or lines 

 shoAviiig an agreement in appearance with the axes of the 

 pseudopodia ; and the author assumes, though he could not 

 satisfy himself, that these lines radiating from the common 

 centre were, in truth, carried on directly through and 

 through the body mass, reappearing as the axes of the 

 pseudopodia. Greef confirms the account given by Gren- 

 adier, as he w as able to extrude by pressure a vesicle con- 

 taining a solid "nuclear mass" (Kernmasse), Avhicli he regards 

 as the common central starting-point from which radiate the 

 fine threads, and he thinks he can recognise in the extriuled 

 vesicle with its contained corpuscle, the doubly bound( d 

 space which occupies the centre of an uniiijured example, 

 but which iie could never see of that sharply bounded stellate 

 figure depicted by Grenacher. He (Greef) states he has 

 been able to follow the central radiating lines even to under 

 the surface of the body, Avliere they get lost, and incapable of 

 being directly followed outw^ards into the pseudopodia. 



Greef alludes to tAvo kinds of probable reproductiAC pro- 

 cesses — a direct self- division of the total animal into two, 

 and a resting or " encysted" state. The latter consists in the 

 AvithdraAval of the sarcode body-mass from the inner boun- 

 dary formed by the union of the bases of the radial spines, 

 leaAang a rather Avide empty border, and its becoming in- 

 vested by a double coat, a firm inner one, Avlien empty dotted, 

 as if perforated, and an outer hyaline one. Of any further 

 development of this state Greef has not seen any indication. 



