RHIZOPODS. 113 



" false feet," but they capture food with them, consum- 

 ing both plants and animals. Diatoms, Desmids, Infu- 

 soria (Chapter V.), Eotifers (Chapter VIII.), almost 

 any living thing small enough to be seized, is accepta- 

 ble. When a desirable morsel is found, the end of the 

 pseudopodium touching it usually expands, and a wave 

 of the body substance flows along it until the object is 

 surrounded, like an island of food in a sea of proto- 

 plasm. The whole broadened pseudopodium is then 

 withdrawn into the body, carrying the food with it ; or, 

 if the captured object is unusually large, or if it strug- 

 gles a good deal, several pseudopodia may come to the 

 assistance of the first, or a great wave-like outflow from 

 the body may envelop both pseudopodia and food. 



These curious animals have no distinct mouth and no 

 distinct stomach. The mouth in the shell-less ones is 

 formed at any point on the surface wherever the creat- 

 ure chooses to open itself and take in the food parti- 

 cle; and the stomach is in any part of the internal 

 substance ; the food is digested wherever it may hap- 

 pen to enter and remain. They have no eyes, yet they 

 seem to direct their course and avoid unpleasant or in- 

 jurious obstacles. They have no nerves, yet when dis- 

 turbed they contract into a small ball-like mass, or with- 

 draw themselves into their shell. They also appear to 

 feel some sort of sensation of hunger, for they are often 

 seen to take food, and they select what they like. 



They are very numerous and common. They are 

 to be found in any shallow pond, or pool, or body of 



