I 4 2 



THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



colourless or coloured 1 . They may be almost naked 

 masses of protoplasm, or they may present a bounding 

 membrane of various degrees of thickness. They may 

 be nucleolated or non-nucleolated ; provided with vacu- 

 oles or devoid of vacuoles; so that oftentimes they 

 exist as mere minute spherical or elongated vesicles, 



FIG. 48. 



Forms illustrating Intel-changeability of Torula and Bacteria. ( X 1670.) 



a Minute Torulce growing in jelly after the fashion of Bacteria, from 

 hay infusion. 



b. Bacteria with 7'orw/a-like forms, from beef infusion. 



c. Homogeneous Bacteria, more or less like Torula in form. 



d. Fungus-spores developing in a homogeneous film many of them in 



their early stages having the shape of Bacteria from the surface of 

 an old hay infusion. 



composed of a minutely-granular protoplasm slightly 

 condensed at the surface. In this condition no dif- 



1 Either brown or green. All transitions may be seen from the 

 colourless condition to the brown tint which is so frequently assumed by 

 fungus-spores (p. 233), and similarly all transitions may be seen from the 

 colourless to the green tint (vol. i. pp. 364, 450). The new-born specks 

 of matter which become green tend, however, to develop into Algae 

 rather than Fungi. 



