894: Miscellaneous. 
Observations on the Structure of Amceba and Actinophrys. 
At a recent meeting of the Boston (U.S.) Society of Natural 
History, Dr. J. Wyman gave an account of some observations which 
he had recently made on an Amoeba. 
The species referred to appeared in some fibrine which had been 
confined between two plates of glass for the purpose of watching the 
progress of its decomposition in water. The Amuwbe were first no- 
ticed as minute points, and gradually grew to full size, without any 
obvious change of form or structure. As seen under the microscope, 
they appeared to be made up of a spherical sarcodic mass, which was 
structureless, and in which were imbedded numerous granules, from 
which last, however, a portion of the circumference of the organism 
was wholly free. Solid bodies, lodged in the interior, were seen to 
be discharged at various points in the circumference, seeming to meet 
with little or no obstruction ; and yet no opening was discovered at 
any point. When the body to be discharged came near the surface, 
the sarcode was pushed out before it, becoming more and more pro- 
minent outwards, and at length broke like a bubble, leaving the 
contained body free. 
The Ameba, in one instance, underwent complete spontaneous di- 
vision in five minutes; first taking on the shape of a dumb-bell, then 
the two principal masses receded from each other, the band which 
united them became thinner, and finally broke, just as does the 
thread which connects two viscid bodies when drawn apart, and two 
complete Ameebe were formed. In another instance, the division 
had become nearly complete, as just described ; but the two masses, 
instead of separating wholly, again approached each other, and nearly 
recovered their original shape. 
From the manner in which solid particles pass through these 
structures, and the rapidity with which the whole organism becomes 
subdivided, it is reasonable to infer that they have no proper integu- 
ment, especially as the microscope fails to reveal such a structure. 
Prof. Henry James Clark said that Actinophrys was particularly 
interesting, as manifesting a step higher than the simple homomor- 
phous organization of Ameba as described by Prof. Wyman. Prof. 
Clark referred to Kolliker’s observations in 1849, as recorded in the 
‘Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie,’ and showed that, even 
supposing Kolliker to be correct, the division of the mass of the body 
into an exterior and interior portion, the former containing much 
larger vacuoles than the latter, indicated a heteromorphous organiza- 
tion, tending towards specialization of parts. He also added that 
he could not agree with Kolliker that Actinophrys is a homomorphous 
mass with vacuoles, but that he was convinced that the so-called va- 
cuoles of the outer and inner layers are true cells, with a distinct 
wall about them, a wall that could be easily recognized with the help 
of the better sort of microscope-objectives of the present day. Owing 
to the exceeding transparency of the organism, no ordinary objective 
will show the walls; but with a one-quarter-inch lens, of one 
hundred and fifty degrees angular aperture, made for him, last June, 
by Tolles, of Canastota, N. Y., he had no difficulty in working, with. 
