434 THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



and then supplement this belief by the notion that more 

 complex forms may afterwards be developed from them. 



Whilst, therefore, many observations have already 

 been made tending to establish the existence of a most 

 intimate relationship between Fungi, Algse, Lichens, 

 and Mosses, and to show that many of them tend to 

 push on to higher developmental forms, it has also been 

 positively ascertained that very many of them are con- 

 stantly giving birth to animalized organisms such as 

 Astasise, Euglenae, Amcebse, Monads, and Ciliated Infu- 

 soria. It now remains to show that these various 

 derivative organisms exhibit a similar, though even 

 more strongly marked, tendency to develop into higher 

 forms both gradually and by means of sudden and 

 startling transformations. 



And of all the animalized forms given off by the 

 lower vegetal organisms, none are so remarkable, or 

 possess within themselves such marvellous potentialities 

 for undergoing change, as the beautiful green Astasise and 

 Euglense (Fig. 84,^), which occur so abundantly in ditches 

 and other stagnant waters. More than twenty years ago 

 these changes were carefully studied by Dr. Gros, and 

 the principal results of his investigations were given to 

 the world in the highly important memoir from which 

 I have already quoted. He showed that they may give 

 birth to the most varied animal and vegetal forms ; 

 and whilst struck by the apparent caprice which seemed 

 to regulate the opposite transformations of specimens 

 lying side by side, and of other specimens at different 



