54 



ORGANISMS OF ONE CELL 



able food. This it gets from the relatively small amount of 

 proteid matter coming from the meat or vegetable that is dis- 

 solving in the water and absorbed by osmosis into the proto- 

 plasm, the chief area of absorption being the truncated end. 

 This method of feeding, widely distributed among similar 

 lower forms of life, is called saprophytic or saprowic nutrition, 



FIG. 22. A flagellated protozoon, Copromonas subtilis. A , A normal adult cell 

 before division; B, two individuals in conjugation; C, D, E, and F, later stages in 

 the fusion of cells and nuclei, and formation of protective cyst. (From D obeli.) 



while that of Amoeba and higher animal forms is called holo- 

 zoic nutrition. Many plants like bacteria and fungi take food 

 in a similar way, the process being called saprophytic nutrition, 

 while in typical green plants, where the methods of feeding are 

 entirely different, the term holophytic nutrition is employed. 

 While the latter method of feeding (to be explained in detail 

 in connection with the fern) is almost exclusively confined to 

 the plant kingdom, there are some few animals, as for example 



