104 THE BIOLOGY OP DAILY LIFE. 



v.. (i.) 



DESCRIPTION OF THE WHITE CORPUSCLE. 



"The way in which I have observed the 

 white corpuscle to comport itself in the blood 

 is as follows : when one is selected out for 

 observation, it will be seen to writhe and 

 wriggle into various shapes, will become 

 serrated all round, or only at one side, but 

 always in motion ; ultimately, it will extend a 

 finger-like prolongation of its substance, and 

 inclosing one of the largest of the nuclei, which 

 may have been seen previously moving about 

 inside the parent cell, and which moving 

 towards the finger point, forms into a small 

 round ball, joined to the main body by a 

 narrow neck, this breaks off completely, or 

 rather is thrown out like an egg from a bird, 

 when the little youngster may be seen sailing 

 off briskly on his own account, and feeding 

 upon the red pabulum (crassamentum) of the 

 blood (which adds the colour to his substance), 

 resting here and there to feed as he goes, as 

 wayward as any other young animal. It can, 

 under favourable circumstances, in a little time 

 be seen distinctly growing larger under the eye ; 

 but this is not all, for the parent writhes and 

 wriggles again, another is thrown off, and still 

 another, and another may be seen to go off 

 without lessening the bulk of the parent- cell, 

 except for the moment. Each youngster goes 

 on an independent track for itself, arid several 



