WHAT MAY BE LEARNED FROM EOZOON 153 



like that of his humble fellow-animal. The clay is after all 

 the same, and there may be as much difficulty in the making 

 of a simple organism with varied powers, as a more complex 

 frame for doing higher work. 



In order that we may feel, a complicated apparatus of 

 nerves and brain cells has to be constructed and set to work ; 

 but the Protozoon, without any distinct brain, is all brain, and 

 its sensation is simply direct. Thus vision in these creatures 

 is probably performed in a rough way by any part of their 

 transparent bodies, and taste and smell are no doubt in the 

 same case. Whether they have any perception of sound as 

 distinct from the mere vibrations ascertained by touch, we do 

 not know. Here, also, we are not far removed above the Pro- 

 tozoa, especially those of us to whom touch, seeing and hear- 

 ing are direct acts, without any thought or knowledge of the 

 apparatus employed. We might, so far, as well be Amoebas. 

 As we rise higher we meet with more differences. Yet it is 

 evident that our gelatinous fellow being can feel pain, dread 

 danger, desire possessions, enjoy pleasure, and in a direct un- 

 conscious way entertain many of the appetites and passions 

 that affect ourselves. The wonder is that with so little of 

 organization it can do so much. Yet, perhaps, life can mani- 

 fest itself in a broader and more intense way where there is 

 little organization, and a highly strung and complex organism 

 is not so much a necessary condition of a higher life as a mere 

 means of better adapting it to its present surroundings. 



A similar lesson is taught by the complexity of their 

 skeletons. We speak in a crude, unscientific way of these 

 animals accumulating calcareous matter, and building up 

 reefs of limestone. We must, however, bear in mind that they 

 are as dependent on their food for the materials of their 

 skeletons as we are, and that their crusts grow in the interior 

 of the sarcode just as our bones do within our bodies. The 

 provision even for nourishing the interior of the skeleton by 



