THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 401 



residual granular mass near the centre; whilst at other 

 times the process of conversion had been more effec- 

 tual, and had left no remainders. These bodies we 

 may, for the sake of convenience., henceforth speak of 

 as embryonal spheres. 



Once formed, such spheres may undergo very various 

 changes, and I shall begin with a description of those 

 which, as regards temperature and season, take place 

 under the most unfavourable conditions. 



1. The internal substance of the embryonal spheres 

 may after a time gradually become fluidified, so that the 

 granules and other particles are seen in active move- 

 ment in their interior. The moving particles gradually 

 increase in number and in size, till at last the whole 

 internal contents of the mass has been resolved into 

 thousands of Bacteria, held together only by the thinnest 

 superficial bounding layer which, however, soon gives 

 way and discharges its swarm of simplest living units 

 into the filament. 



2. Some of the spherules may become perfectly de- 

 colourized and finely granular in their interior, and 

 then may develop a blind tube, so as to produce large 

 specimens of Pythium (/,/'). In other bodies, which 

 appear to be essentially similar during their early stages, 

 the contained granules gradually aggregate into large 

 nuclear masses, each of which subsequently becomes 

 enclosed within one of the segments into which the 

 contents of the sphere divides (i). These segments soon 

 become active and liberate themselves in the form of 



VOL. n. D d 



