WHAT IS PHYSICAL LIFE 



in illustration the observations of Cien- 

 kowski on a minute ameba called Vampy- 

 rella, that will take but one form of food, 

 which is a particular variety of algge, the 

 Spirogyra. The Vampyrella creeps along 

 among numbers of other algae until it 

 meets with a Spirogyra, to which it then 

 affixes itself and perforating its cellulose 

 coat it sucks in the contents of its cell, 

 and then travels in quest of the next 

 Spirogyra, to repeat the process. Cien- 

 kowski never saw the Vampyrella attack 

 any other class of alga3, or take up any 

 other substance. Vaucherae, Edogoniae, 

 etc., purposely placed before it, were al- 

 ways rejected. " The behavior of these 

 single-celled creatures in their search after 

 food, and in their method of absorbing 

 it, is so remarkable," says Cienkowski, 

 " that one can hardly avoid the conclu- 

 sion that the acts are those of conscious 

 beings." 



