ORGANIC AND INORGANIC MATTER COMPARED. 85 



The jointed algce or confervce are chiefly 

 inhabitants of fresh water. They present the 

 appearance of thread-like tubes, having joints, 

 differing in length and the manner in which 

 their contents are arranged. An endless variety 

 of these plants may be found in clear ditches 

 and running streams. They multiply by means 

 of little granules contained in their tubes, and 

 they grow by the addition of one tube to the 

 the end of another. Among these conferva 

 the most remarkable are the Zognema and 

 OscillatoHa, both of which evince certain de- 

 grees of approach to the animal kingdom. 

 " The species of the latter genus form dark 

 green and purple slimy patches, in damp places 

 or in water, and are exceedingly remarkable 

 for the power they possess of moving spon- 

 taneously ; when in an active state their tubes 

 are seen to unite and twist about, just as if they 

 were vegetable worms ; but they grow like 

 plants, and their manner of increase is also 

 vegetable. Yet they possess several of the 

 chemical properties of animal matter, and when 

 burnt yield a carbon of the most foetid odour, 

 resembling that of decaying animal substances." 

 Have we not here a link of union between the 

 zoophyte and the vegetable ? 



Disjointed algee are extremely curious ; they 

 are characterized by their original or final 

 spontaneous separation into distinct fragments, 

 which have a common origin, but an individual 

 life. They multiply by spontaneous division. 

 " It is upon the stems of other plants immersed 



