490 



THE BEGINNINGS OF II FE. 



Hydatina ^ eggs' had been kept for a time within a 



w ^^ 



developmental chamber (in which they had been ex- 

 posed to unnatural conditions)^ their substance under- 



into a multitude of Monads. 



went 



segmentation 



Dr. Gros^ has^ moreover, observed that Rotifers and 

 Rotifer-germs occasionally become putrid and resolve 

 themselves into a dense swarm composed of thousands 

 of Bacteria, 



m 



whilst under still less propitious influences it may pro- 

 duce hundreds of active Monads^ or even resolve itself 

 into a swarming brood composed of thousands of the 

 simplest living units. 



^ Log. cit., pp. 440, 472. 



2 An 'embryonal sphere' derived from Nitella may for instance be 

 transformed into a Ciliated Infusorium, though under less favourable 

 conditions it either segments into Monads or becomes resolved into 

 a swarm of Bacteria— to say nothing of other possible modes of trans- 

 formation. (See pp. 401-406,) 



CH 



f 



,#A"°' 



5 OF 



OfKO 



IlfERS 



J 



■S^^ 



of Lower 



Mr. (-"' 



ance with previous observations^ from which we have 



learned that an organic matrix capable of giving birth 



to a higher form may, when subjected to the influence 



of more and more unfavourable circumstances^ give 



birth to lower and lower forms 2. But although ana- 



logons phenomena have been already recorded, there is 



room for surprise when we find that the egg of one of |irRo:i,. Authc 



the largest and most complex of the Rotifers, instead 



of undergoing its own proper phases of development, 



may, under one set of comparatively unfavourable 



i^ neglected ne^ 

 ftfled Conclusions 

 bifonnations. 

 i of Rotifers. Dr. 

 jimation of Vorticel 

 itoembn'O of R< 



s. Direct 



taion of ' winte 

 iiir Transfonnaiii 



»ia. Their Mod 

 ^^^5 Vesicles and c 



i^ Reproductioi 

 rJ^ttoPlanario^ 



conditions, yield a dozen or more Ciliated Infusoria, rSofx^imj^jj 





D::. 







\\ 





: .,^' of r 



te 



