I GUIDE TO THE CORAL GALLERY. 



lobes. The lobes are termed " pseudopodia " (pseiuios, false or 

 apparent ; poi/s, foot), because they enable the animal to move 

 about. " In the continual extension and branching of one or more 

 of the chief pseudopods," writes Professor Leidy, " the Amoeba 

 progresses more or less rapidly, the body appearing incessantly 

 to exhaust itself in the continual growth and elongation of the 

 pseudopods and in the production of new ones, AA-hile it is as 



Fig. 1. 



Amceha proteus, the Proteus Animalcule. Figure on left, small specimen, mag- 

 nified 250 diameters. Figure on right x 200. w, nucleus ; c v, contractile 

 vacuole ; /, foreign bodies ; p, pseudopods. Arrows indicate direction of 

 streaming of pseudopods and of motion of the animal. (After Leidy.) 



incessantly replenished by the contraction and melting away of 

 pre-existing pseudopods." The little creature is continually chang- 

 ing its shape, and hence Rosel, who discovered it in 1755, called it 

 " the little Proteus," after the monster of the fable. 



When the Ammha comes in contact with a Diatom, Desmid, or 

 other object suitable for food, it envelops and ingests it, and, in 

 due time, casts out the indigestible debris. 



