ROUND THE INDIAN MUSEUM. 97 



Protozoa. They are the most lowly organised members 

 of the animal kingdom, or the Beginnings of Life. 



" Do you know what that thin^ is, Charu ?" 



" Chalk, I suppose." 



" Well, you are right so far that it is the white chalk of 

 Geology. Let me tell you what it is and how it is 

 formed. There is a kind of aquatic Protozoa called 

 Foraminifera, that is animalcules with perforated 

 cell-walls ; their tiny body is enclosed in a tiny 

 shell which is usually perforated with little holes 

 like a sieve. They are mostly marine animalcules, and 

 countless numbers of them exist at the surface of the 

 sea; as they die, their shells fall to the bottom where 

 they form deposits of great extent. Those of you who 

 are interested in this branch of knowledge and wish 

 to know something further about the single-celled ani- 

 mals or animalcules must read up some works on 

 Systematic Zoology." 



MANY-CELLED ANIMALS. 



" All the rest of the animal creation, from a sponge 

 or a worm to a man, are comprised under this group ; 

 but before we proceed to inspect the various forms 

 of animals other than those we have already seen, 

 I should like to impress upon your minds a few simple, 

 yet important facts in regard to these many-ceUed l 

 animals, and I think I had better do so in the language 

 of a competent Zoologist." 



: ' Among the Protozoa the single simple cell perfor m, 



70 



