the^istinctive Charadet's in Amoeba. 151 



Taking into consideration, then, the various facts that have 

 been adduced on the subject in the present and preceding 

 papers — that the characters of A. princeps, as assigned to it by 

 Ehrenberg and Dujardin, have been universally accepted by 

 writers on the Rhizopods up to the period at which my obser- 

 vations on A. villosa were published — the strong evidence af- 

 forded that A. princeps (Carter) is not a distinct form, but, toge- 

 ther with other varieties to which separate specific names have 

 heretofore been assigned, referable to A. villosa — that the cha- 

 racters of A, villosa are such as to elevate the genus to which it 

 belongs considerably beyond the position it formerly occupied — 

 and, lastly, that no descriptive notice or figures of any of the 

 characters brought to notice in A. villosa had previously appeared 

 in any printed work whatever, — I think it will be admitted that 

 A. princeps (Ehr.), if still recognized at all as a species, should be 

 retained under the definition originally assigned by its founder, 

 whilst A. villosa should henceforth constitute the true type of 

 Amoeban structure. 



I would state, in conclusion, that the length to which my 

 observations have unavoidably extended, coupled with the abso- 

 lute necessity for verbatim extracts, have precluded me from 

 referring, in many cases, to the works of Ehrenberg, Dujardin, 

 Schultze, J. Miiller, Cohn, Lachmann, Claparede, Reichert, and 

 others, and likewise from touching on numerous minor points 

 bearing on the questions at issue. These omissions I hope here- 

 after to rectify. Meanwhile let me claim the reader's indul- 

 gence if I have been somewhat prolix in my treatment of a very 

 important and imperfectly understood subject. In sustaining 

 the accuracy of the opinions and statements published in my 

 preceding papers, I had two distinct objects in view, namely, to 

 advance science, and perform an act of justice to myself: for a 

 very cursory perusal of Mr. Carter's notice on Amoeba princeps 

 will suffice to show that, directly or indirectly, nearly every 

 opinion and statement of mine has been therein assailed. 



Under these circumstances, should I have appeared some- 

 what tenacious of the little fame attaching to good service, I 

 trust it may be taken into consideration that such service is not 

 heaven-born, but the fruit of long and assiduous study, and 

 that, however widely my friend Mr. Carter's views and mine 

 may differ on certain points, we assuredly have no sympathy 

 with those intellectual eagles who, whilst they affect to see 

 everything at a glance, deny all credit to others, and would have 

 the world believe that their aims are purely unselfish. 



Kensington, 

 July 15, 1863. 



