48 THE PSYCHIC LIFE 



glutition comparable in every phase to the like pro- 

 cess in higher animals. Furthermore, these species 

 feed only upon living prey, which they capture and 

 entrammel by means of their trichocysts (vid. Archives 

 de Zoologie, Vol. I. 1883, p. 607 and ff.). By this very act 

 they exercise a choice in the selection of food. But 

 this manifestation of choice is not, in my opinion, the 

 result of preference, or of individual taste, but is the 

 consequence of the peculiar construction of their buc- 

 cal apparatus, which does not enable them to take 

 other and different nourishment. 



"These hunter Infusoria are constantly running 

 about in quest of prey; but this constant pursuit is 

 not directed towards one object any more than an- 

 other. They move rapidly hither and thither, chang- 

 ing their direction every moment, with the part of the 

 body bearing the battery of trichocysts held in ad- 

 vance. When chance has brought them in contact 

 with a victim, they let fly their darts and crush it; at 

 this point of the action .they go through certain manoau- 

 vres that are prompted by a guiding will. It very 

 seldom happens that the shattered victim remains 

 motionless after direct collision with the mouth of its 

 assailant. The hunter, accordingly, slowly makes his 

 way about the scene of action, turning both right and 

 left in search of his lifeless prey. This search lasts a 

 minute at the most, after which, if not successful in 

 finding his victim, he starts off once more to the chase 

 and resumes his irregular and roving course. These 

 hunters have, in my opinion, no sensofy organ where- 

 by they are enabled to determine the presence of prey 

 at a distance; it is only by unceasing and untiring 

 peregrinations both day and night, that they succeed 

 in providing themselves with sustenance. When prey 



