26 GREEN SLIME. 



plasmic body containing the green chlorophyll pigment. 

 The surrounding protoplasm by the aid of the chloro- 

 phyll is able to convert inorganic into organized matter, 

 a function wanting in all animals, with the exception 

 of a few of the lowest, like Hydra and Euglena, and 

 also wanting in some plants, e. g. fungi and colorless 

 parasites. 



The solid, firm, and nearly colorless cell-wall is a 

 product of the protoplasm consisting essentially of 

 cellulose, and serves as a protection to the protoplasm. 

 The fine granules seen in the protoplasm, are largely 

 food materials produced by the cell in excess of what 

 the present needs require. 



The multiplication of the plant by cell-division is a 

 very common method throughout the vegetable king- 

 dom. 8 The nucleus first disappears and two nuclei are 

 formed in its stead. The protoplasm then divides 

 itself, keeping a nucleus in each part, and a wall is 

 formed between. The two cells thus produced soon 

 attain the size of the original cell, when they in turn 

 divide into two, but usually by a partition at right 

 angles to the last, and so on. The cells thus formed 

 either soon become separated, or retain a mechanical 

 union. 



Another method of multiplication is by the produc- 

 tion of zoospores. 10 The plastic contents of a cell, 

 either as a whole or divided into several parts, escapes 

 from the cell wall, each mass pushes out a pair of 

 delicate protoplasmic filaments or cilia, which moving 



9 Cf. Bessey, Botany, p. 36, for a statement of the different methods 

 by which new cells are formed. 



10 Cf. Huxley and Martin, Elementary Biology, p. 12, 15 ; Howes, 

 Atlas of Elementary Biology, p. 74, pi. xviii. 



