THE DAWN OF LIFE 1/5 



Eozoon, which rather conforms to the arrange- 

 ments found in some Protozoa of smaller size, and 

 which, under the name of Foraminifera, have 

 abounded in all geological periods, and are exces- 

 sively abundant in the modern ocean. They may 

 be defined as animals composed of a soft and 

 apparently homogeneous animal jelly known as 

 protoplasm or sarcode. When carefully examined, 

 however, it is found to have a granular texture and 

 to be divisible into two layers, an outer and an 

 inner, while it possesses a little hollow vessel 

 capable of expanding and absorbing the liquid 

 matter of the enclosing protoplasm, and of con- 

 tracting so as to expel its contents. This seems 

 to be the only organ of circulation and excretion. 

 There are, however, small cells or reproductive 

 bodies in the interior, varying in number, size, and 

 development in different forms. The most remark- 

 able property of these creatures is that of stretching 

 out from the surface of the body threads or pro- 

 jections of the protoplasm,^ often of considerable 

 length, and which serve at once as organs of loco- 

 motion and prehension. These creatures are in 



* Known as Pseudopodia. 



