9 



THE STORY OF THE LIVING MACHINE. 



whether or not they have within them a piece of 

 the nucleus. All the pieces are capable of carry- 

 ing on their life activities for a while. The pieces 

 of the cell which contain the nucleus of the origi- 

 nal cell, or even a part of it, are capable of carrying 



on all its life ac- 

 tivities perfectly 

 well. In Fig. 24 is 

 shown such a cell 

 cut into three 

 pieces, each of 

 which contains 

 a piece of the 

 nucleus. Each 

 carries on its life 

 activities, feeds, 

 grows and mul- 

 tiplies perfectly 

 well, the life pro- 

 cesses seeming to 

 continue as if 

 nothing had hap- 

 pened. Quitedif- 

 ferent is it with 

 fragments which 



FIG. 25. A cell cut into three pieces, only contain none of 

 one of which, No. 2, contains any , . /T? . 

 nucleus. This fragment soon acquires tne nucleus (F Ig. 

 the original form and continues its life 25). These frag- 

 indefinitely, as shown at B. The other .. ~ n <- c / T ~~A ,. \ 

 two pieces though living for a time, ] 5 \ l anu 3J 

 die without reproducing. even though they 



may be com- 

 paratively large masses of protoplasm, are incap- 

 able of carrying on the functions of their life 

 continuously. For a while they continue to move 

 around and apparently act like the other frag- 

 ments, but after a little their life ceases. They 



