366 THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE, 



distinct cellular body, -^^' in diameter, having a 

 sharply-defined border and finely-granular contents, 

 in the midst of which was a large nucleus. A thick 

 hyaline capsule seemed to shut it off from the granular 

 matrix in which it was imbedded. And, lastly, there 

 were a number of bodies closely resembling one of the 

 simplest kinds of Desmids. Some of them were single 

 ovoidal bodies, about ToW" in length, consisting of an 

 oat-shaped mass of faintly greenish protoplasm within 

 a larger delicately hyaline envelope. Others were com- 

 posite, and one mass was seen composed of four much 

 larger segments 1 . 



Experiment 3. A closed flask containing a solution 

 of potash-and-ammonia alum, and of tartar emetic 2 , 

 was opened 28 days after it had been hermetically 

 sealed. The fluid then had a decidedly acid reaction. 



The solution continued clear throughout ; there was 

 no trace of a pellicle and no deposit at the sides, though 



1 Organisms closely resembling these have frequently been met with 

 in solutions similar to the above, even when the solutions have been 

 exposed to much higher temperatures (see vol. ii. chap. x. Exps. 8, 

 9, n and 12). And in a flask containing an inoculated solution of 

 ammonic tartrate and sodic phosphate, which had been heated to I4OF, 

 and subsequently kept for eleven weeks, bodies somewhat similar were 

 encountered. In this case, however, they were colourless, and were 

 associated with a number of more ordinary-looking Torula cells. The 

 green organisms of the iron solutions bear some resemblance to the 

 Desmids of the genus Artbrodesmus, and to the Pediastreae of the genus 

 Scenodesmus. 



2 The quantities were, unfortunately, not measured. The water used 

 was not distilled, but was a pure drinkable water. 



