THE CELL 99 



cell. However that may be, the cell is clearly a separate 

 living individual or animal regardless from what he is 

 organized or of what composed. Ernest Haeckel states, 

 "The cells are individual life centers, and the uni- 

 fied life of the whole man is the combined result of the 

 work of his component cells. In this way the cells are the 

 real life' units of the organism. Their individual inde- 

 pendence is at once seen in the permanently unicellular 

 protists of which several thousand species are already 

 known to us." 



It appears that the cell has organs with which it is able 

 to see, feel and hear. Still I do not see how they can have 

 these organs in the same sense that we consider hearing 

 and seeing. Here is what one scientist has to say about 

 the cell possessing organs of sight and hearing: "It is 

 impossible to believe that these organs are not eyes for 

 they have the same structure as eyes of comparatively 

 higher classes of animals, such as certain worms, tubu- 

 laria, rotifers, lower class crustaceans, etc. All these or- 

 gans are similarly formed of a small crystalline globule 

 inclosed in a small mass of pigmentary matter. The iden- 

 tity of structure naturally leads to the assumption of the 

 identity of functions." 



Ernest Haeckel claims for the cell a definite mouth and 

 annus. Here is what he has to say : 



"The great class of rhisopods is distinguished by the 

 fact that their naked plasma bodies can take in ready 

 formed solid food at any point of the body. On the other 

 hand most of the infusoria have a definite mouth opening 

 in the outer walls of their unicellular bodies and some- 

 times a gullet tube as well. Besides this cell house we 

 usually find also a second opening for the discharge of 

 indigestible matter, a cell annus." 



Prof. Haeckel has also been able to see the movements 



