^//^. 



' ^'^coni 



L 



' "»«M r 



\ 



arious 



\' 



^^'' and ^, 

 ncreases (^,,:: 

 )nies more 



grst 



or. 



On the tt 

 )urization m- 

 these thoroE 

 ?t time, wcoi:- 

 many-rajed f 

 )r five days k:: 



matterofor 



1 



•ns of Actioop 

 : a few 



•sS^ 



come 



transfe-- 



the green 

 .the subst*- 



re aniniaii^'^' 



;cres maj 



r 



:.i'' 



; 



\U" 



envelope 



tern^ 



i# 



;«ir 



of li^^ 



to 



t 



\4 



in3) 



; also f 



^ 



THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



399 



during the 



transformation of other ma- 



themselves 



trices. 



Meanwhile, I will pass to a description of somewhat- 

 analogous metamorphoses which hare been frequently 

 observed to take place within the closed internodes of 



Nitella. 

 A few filaments of Nttella translucens were kept in a 



small glass vessel, containing about a quarter of a pint 

 of water from the pond in which the plant had been 

 found \ It was protected from dust-, and kept upon the 

 mantelpiece of my study during the months of Sep- 

 tcmber to February inclusive^ and the changes which 

 were from time to time observed within these filaments 

 were of the most interesting nature. The plant lite- 

 rally Mied by inches' — internode after internode— and 

 the changes which took place within them were found 

 to vary considerably according to the temperature^ 



the brightness of the weather^ and other undiscovered 

 influences ^. The initial changes were^ however^ very 



similar 



in all 



cases^ although they progressed at 



different rates. 



When an internode just beginning to grow pale was 

 examined, phenomena very similar to those described 

 by Mr. Carter might be observed. The protoplasm and 

 chlorophyll vesicles were seen to have aggregated into 

 masses of various sizes, from xxW' to 



1 ff 



in diameter. 



^ It had been sent to me from Falmouth by Mr. Howard Fox. 

 ^ It also grew by inches, since new internodes were constantly 

 sprouting out as the old ones died. 



