268 Transactions of the 



of which grow to the parent size ; and the perfect series of monads 

 produced directly by multiple fission. 



From the peculiar manner in which the parthenogenetic pro- 

 ducts are deposited — in a clear investing sarcode —the capacity for 

 desiccation so remarkably shown by this monad may be understood 

 on the principle pointed out by Mr. Henry Davis.* 



There is one condition of this monad which, in spite of most 

 constant and assiduous research, has defied all our attempts to 

 discover its meaning. We have called it the " clubbed " stage, for 

 in this special condition the monad was vested with one or two 

 peculiar knobbed stalks either supplanting or associated with 

 the flagella. The ordinary clubbed condition is shown at B, 

 Fig. 26, where h, c appear to have taken the place of the ordinary 

 flagella. Almost as frequently the condition seen at A is assumed 

 where there is one flagellum and one knob'; but instances have often 

 occurred in which both flagella and two knobs exist together as at e. 



"We have endeavoured for three years to find the meaning of 

 this, but have entirely failed. We persisted in our efforts, because, 

 so far as we could discover, this anatomical phase seemed to coincide 

 with certain stages of development. But wider and closer observa- 

 tion has enabled us to abandon this idea. Our first impression was 

 that this phenomenon had a sexual significance, and this arose from 

 the fact that we had frequently observed coj^ulating forms, as at c, 

 Fig. 21, in which one of the monads was clubbed. But from the 

 large number of cases subsequently watched with all conceivable 

 care, in which no such a phenomenon presented itself, we are obliged 

 to abandon this also. That it is without significance in the creature's 

 development we are unwilling to think; the more because of its 

 occurrence each year, and with greater or less persistence throughout, 

 as well as on account of the occasionally observed method of its 

 production. In Fig. 27 the mode of origin is shown. At first 

 two disks were seen within the sarcode, as in a,h, A ; these would 

 slowly push out, as in c, d, B, and the stalks would appear, and 

 eventually they would be wholly and permanently thrown out, as in 



But in spite of this we have failed to correlate it with any step 

 in the developmental history, which appears complete without 

 it ; and we can only record the facts, and hope that some more 

 fortunate workers may be able to interpret them. 



In the course of our work on this and other forms we have 

 been more than ever strongly impressed with the danger of hasty 

 conclusions. It animates our diaries to comment from time to time 

 on the probable meaning of certain observed phenomena — to specu- 

 late on their relation to what we had fully ascertained and what 

 we had yet to discover. At times, indeed, our inferences, ivhen 

 * ' M, M. J.,' vol. ix., pp. 20G-209. 



