THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 395 



no trace of a cyst wall, and even in this stage their 

 clear peripheral portion is seen to be made up of 

 veritable protoplasm, which is continually undergoing 

 slow alterations in shape. These masses are already 

 more than half-formed Amoebse, and that they have 

 been produced out of mere fortuitous aggregations of 

 chlorophyll and protoplasm is beyond all doubt. All 

 intermediate changes may be seen taking place even in 

 different parts of a small portion of one of the filaments, 

 and the examples are so numerous as to make this 

 almost simultaneous observation of the different stages 

 just as conclusive as if we were to attempt to follow 

 out all the developmental phases of any one of the 

 masses. 



The filaments of different specimens of Vaucheria vary 

 a good deal as regards the amount of protoplasmic matter 

 and chlorophyll which they contain; and some speci- 

 mens are also much more prone than others to exhibit 

 the changes to which we have just referred. When 

 a healthy filament is cut across and placed on a slip, 

 beneath a covering glass, for microscopical exami- 

 nation, its contents slowly exude, and as it emerges 

 it separates into green masses of different sizes, which 

 almost immediately take on a spheroidal form. When 

 these masses are examined by a magnifying power of 

 1600 or 1700 diameters, they are found to be composed 

 of a semi-fluid protoplasm, containing granules of 

 different sizes and also a number of bright green 

 chlorophyll vesicles. Slight contractile amoeboid move- 



