'^. 



^^en the - > 

 fash; 



T//B BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



% 





"^^d diff, 



1 



) 



and 



hi? 



O 



^^jority of ^ 

 But in 



nothing fc 

 'ess and part 



ur. 



the substaiict 



uent 



ind in prop 

 did the 

 Lst it was coi- 



I 



mceba. 

 ;Ophrys 



I ta« 



en 



frequeotf 



ilst still in''-' 

 : from its * 



alela 



rress 



i 



1 



ae 



time 







it 





459 



form 



active and more thoroughly animalized. In this 

 it takes food into its substance, assimilates it, and 

 undergoes a certain increase in size^ till at last it 

 again becomes sluggish, assumes a spherical or ovoidal 

 form, and retracts its pseudopodi^ one by one prepara- 

 tory to new transformations ^. 



At other times, according to Dr. Gros, a decolourized 

 and animalized Euglena may assume for a period the 

 form of a Peranema before becoming converted into an 

 Amoeba or an Actinophrys ^^ and these latter forms, 

 when they have acquired a certain (though unknown) 

 stage of molecular elaboration, tend to become con- 

 verted into different forms of Ciliated Infusoria^, 



II. Direct Transformation tnto one or other of the Ciliated 



hifusoria. But at other times the transformation of 

 the Euglena takes place in a different manner, so 

 that, as Dr. Gros pointed out, it is enabled at once 

 to acquire the requisite molecular composition, and 

 pass to the form of a Vorticella or an Oxytricha 

 without previously existing in either of the above- 

 mentioned intermediate and less specialized states. 

 Speaking of some Euglense which underwent this meta- 



r 



morphosis, Dr. Gros says : — ^ Quand elles se transforment 

 de toutes pieces ou apres la premiere parifissure elles 

 suivent une rhythme generale, que nous retrouvons 

 ailleurs sur un plus grande echelle. Elles prennent une 



See loc. cit, pp. 318, 335, and 336, 

 ee loc. cit., p. 336, 



c 



See loc. cit., pp. 305, 314, 318, 335, 336, 435. 



i 



