BEGINNINGS OF THE NEXT GENERATION 1 03 



and eats and moves about and divides is merely half of 

 another amoeba precisely like itself. 1 



But with fish and fowl and with all other vertebrates, in- 

 cluding man, a new order steps in. Instead of having but 

 one cell of protoplasm apiece, like the amceba, all complex 

 animals are great bundles of millions of cells, and a separate 

 set takes charge 

 of each separate 

 function of the 

 body. 



Through our 

 brain cells we 

 do our thinking 

 and our decid- 

 ing ; nerve cells 

 do the tele- 

 graphing for 

 us ; muscle cells 

 do the pulling; 

 cells of liver, 

 spleen, bone, 

 and kidney de- 

 vote themselves 

 to work each in 

 its own special 



field ; while germ cells (also called gametes) are set apart for 

 absolutely no other purpose than to carry on the life of the 

 race. In fact they are the only bits of protoplasm in the 

 universe that are able to pass life along from one generation 

 to the next. They join the generations together. 



1 For description of amoeba see " Control of Body and Mind," 

 of the Gulick Hygiene Series, chap. vi. 



The Amceba as it Multiplies 



