26 THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT. 



peculiarly formed chalk corpuscles, still perhaps ambigu- 

 ous in their nature (the Coccoliths and Rhabdoliths), 

 and finally, which is the main point, of an albuminous 

 substance which is alive. 



This living slime, the so-called Bathybius, does not 

 even exhibit individuality, or the definiteness of a 

 separate existence ; it resembles the shapeless mineral 

 substances, each particle of which bears the character- 

 istics of the whole. 



The conception of an organism as a being composed 

 of various parts, Avith various offices or functions, and 

 appearing under a definite form gradually developed, is 

 in our day so inherent and intuitive, that it is only with 

 great exertion that we are able to accommodate our- 

 selves to the idea of a living mass either absolutely 

 formless and undefined, or defined arbitrarily and acci- 

 dentally. Let any one, who either cannot or will not 

 do this, pause for a moment to contemplate another 

 simple being — for instance, Haeckel's " Protamoeba." 

 A small albuminous mass increases by the absorption 

 of nutriment, and by the appropriation of matter, until 

 it reaches a certain circumference, and then propagates 

 itself by spontaneous fission into two equal parts. To 

 our means of observation, these and similar beings are 

 the simplest organisms devoid of organs. While ac- 

 centuating the limits of research as restricted by inade- 

 quate means of observation, we maintain the validity 

 of Rollet's retort,^ that our reason cannot properly 

 admit such homogeneous organisms, performing all the 

 functions of life solely by means of their atomic con- 

 stitution ; that we are dealing with the still utterly 

 unknown structure of the molecules formed by the 



