58 THT VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



seemed so rapid, that I took out my watch to time 

 the changes, which astonished me. It was a bright July 

 evening. 



20 mm. to 7. The angular bodies were forming. 



15 min. past 7. The gonidia, or zoospores, as T should call 

 them, were becoming oval. 



20 min. past 7. The gonidia were in violent motion, re- 

 volving and bounding against the end of the cell. 



25 min. past 7. The end of the cell contracted and elon- 

 gated, then suddenly opened like a beak, and out rushed 

 the whole multitude of little zoospores, merrily swim- 

 ming hither and thither, evidently ciliated, and always 

 moving the small end foremost. The empty cell col- 

 lapsed, and I forgot it in watching the other filaments, 

 all progressing in the same way. The spores continued 

 to move about rather more slowly for nearly half an 

 hour, when the quasi animal life seemed to cease, and 

 they floated away to germinate upon the nearest de- 

 caying substance. 



I hope you will prove the truth of what I write ; it will 

 afford much pleasure and a most useful lesson. 



