i.8 REPRODUCTION OF ACTINOPHRYNA. PAKT m. 



have the power of stunning their prey, for if an animal- 

 cule be touched by one of them, it instantly becomes 

 motionless, and does not resume its activity for some 

 time. The pulsations of the contractile vesicle are very 

 regular, and its duty is the same as in the Amoeba 

 princeps. 



The Actinophryna are propagated like the lowest 

 vegetables by gemmation and conjugation, shown in 

 B fig. 87 ; moreover Mr. Carter saw the production of 

 germ-cells and motile particles in the Actinophrys 

 exactly after the mode already described in the Amoeba. 



Mr. Carter mentions an instance in which the Actino- 

 phrys sol showed what may possibly be a certain degree 

 of instinct. An individual was in the same vessel with 

 vegetable cells charged with particles of starch ; one of 

 the cells had been ruptured and a little of the internal 

 matter was protruded through the crevice. The Actino- 

 phrys came, extracted one of the starch-grains, and 

 crept to a distance ; it returned, and although there were 

 no more starch-grains in sight, the creature managed 

 to take them out from the interior of the cell one by one, 

 always retiring to a distance and returning again, 

 showing that it knew its way back, and where the 

 starch-grains were to be found. On another occasion 

 Mr. Carter saw an Actinophrys station itself close to the 

 ripe spore cell of a plant, and as the young zoospores 

 came out one after another, the Actinophrys caught 

 every one of them even to the last and then retired to a 

 distance as if instinctively conscious that no more 

 remained. Like Amoebse these animals select their food, 

 but notwithstanding the .superior facility and unfailing 

 energy with which they capture prey larger and more 

 active than themselves, they are invariably overcome 

 even by a very small Amoeba which they avoid if possible. 

 When they come Into contact the Amoeba shows un- 

 wonted activity, tries to envelope the Actinophrys with 

 its pseudopodia, but failing to capture the whole animal 



