THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 203 



assumed a ring-like appearance. On the following day 

 they were almost all in active movement as Amoebae 

 scarcely any were to be seen in the spherical stationary 

 form. After a few days' exposure to direct sunlight, 

 great numbers of the Amoebae encysted themselves,, 

 though others became filled with minute granules, and 

 seemed to have undergone a process of degeneration 1 . 



In other cases areas of differentiation, commencing 

 in a manner somewhat similar to what I have already 

 described, were seen to terminate in the production of 

 Fungus-germs. Their mode of evolution from portions 

 of a pellicle found upon a rather old infusion of hay, 

 was also described on a former occasion 2 . The 

 development of a brownish tint in the earlier stages of 

 the transformation made it more easy to detect its real 

 nature. The areas which began to differentiate were 

 generally not very large. They were at first quite colour- 

 less, and the granules were separated from one another 

 by a notable amount of transparent jelly-like material. 

 The granules themselves were mostly shaped like the 

 figure 8, and each half was about ^othro" ^ n diameter. 

 A later stage was apparently seen in other areas which 

 had assumed a very faint brownish tint, and presented 

 evidences of a commencing subdivision. As this pro- 

 cess of segmentation progressed, the brown tint became 

 gradually deeper. Ovoid masses were frequently seen 

 about auW or TerW in diameter, of a decidedly brown 



1 See p. 222. 



2 'Nature,' 1870, No. 35. 



