12 



THE UNIVERSE. 



Their form is, as a rule, fixed, yet some of them change 

 their shape at will, and present to the eyes of the astonished 

 observers so many d ifferent aspects that at the expiration 

 of five minutes they cannot be recognized. At one moment 

 they are globular or three-cornered; an instant after they 

 are seen taking on the appearance of a star. Accordingly, 



3. Wagener's Lieberkuhnia : Lieberkuhnia Wat/eneri (Claparede). 



these creatures, with their deceptive changes of form, have 

 received the name of Protei, from the famous sea-god of 

 antiquity, who by his wonderful metamorphoses was ena- 

 bled to elude attempts to catch him. 



Some animalcules of this class surround themselves with 

 self-produced feet like living roots, the arrangement of 



