190 From Matter to Man. 



spicuous when they are united in colonies and incor- 

 porated into stalks of membranous tissue. 



The simplest form {dinobryd) represents an upright 

 tier of cups which fit closely into one another. Each 

 cell or cup is a complete and independent organism, 

 with its own flagella projecting over the lip. When 

 small creatures are captured by these flagella, they 

 are drawn into the body of the cup and there digested. 

 Reproduction or perpetuation occurs when the top- 

 most cell reaches maturity with its nucleus and 

 flagella complete. It then becomes detached and 

 floats away to found a new colony elsewhere, while 

 the next in order succeeds to the top. 



Some species {codosigoe) appear as bouquets on the 

 summit of a long peduncle or stalk. Others resemble 

 dahlias bunched together on more or less ramified 

 and flexuous stems. Sometimes these stalks, tubes, 

 or membranes attain vast proportions compared to 

 the animals inhabiting them. Thus, a boy cracking 

 a whip on the top of the Monument (London) might 

 fitly represent the comparative size of some infusoria 

 to their stalks or houses. 



Thus far the animals constituting arboriform 

 colonies are distinct individuals, each one fishing out 

 of his own cup solely for himself, the union with 

 others merely mechanical. They must, however, 

 secrete in common their supportive membrane, yet 

 the growth of the membrane is inevitably as auto- 

 matic as is the skeleton of the coral, the acting laws 

 being probably the same like-material-attraction and 



