UG8 



SUMMAIiY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



inastlgoda. With regard to Hacckel's suggcstiou tliat tbo simplest forms 

 arc tlie Moncra, or organisms without a nucleus, it must be borne in 

 mind tbat tliis was made wben tbe metbods of nucleus-investigation 

 were mucb less complete than tbey are now, and before it was recog- 

 nized tbat tbe place of a single large nucltus is often taken by a number 



Animais 



Higher 

 Plants 



Multicellular 

 Algae 



Spongiae \ 



V 



Infusoria Choonoflag 



Sporozoa j.y^j^.^,^g^,j^^^ Bacillariacea 



lidina 



Phytbmaidtgcda 



Protococcoidea 



Jiarlcrtocea 



of small and scarcely distinguisbable bodies. Both botanists and 

 zoologists now allow tbat nuclei are often not really absent from 

 organisms wbieb were supposed to be without them. In fact it is 

 generally agreed tbat, with tbe exce])tion of tbe Scbizopbycefe and 

 Bacteriaceaj, nuclei are generally present. Tbe autbor bimEclf bas 

 never met witb a Protomceba or a Protomonas, and other observers bave 

 said tbe same. Mucb bas been written on Bacteria, but very little from 

 a morjjbological point of view ; Scbmitz bas shown that in the proto- 

 plasm of the Schizophycea) there is a varying number of granules of 

 different sizes, which are sometimes collected into one group. It is 

 possible tbat these are nuclein-grains; De Bary found colourable granules 

 in the protoplasm of certain Bacteria, and it must not be positively 

 asserted that these forms have no nuclei. On these grounds Prof. 

 Biitschli refuses to regard the Monera as the starting-point of the 

 higher unicellular organisms. 



The origin of the group of Infusoria is uncertain, owing to tbe want 

 of connecting forms ; but it seems to be clear that it is not either a 



