INTRODUCTION. 29 
ball. There were, therefore, three portions of proto- 
plasm of different sizes representing the original 
organism. Whilst under the microscope they went 
through the successive phases represented, until, 
finally, the larger sphere burst, as the smaller one had 
done before it, and its granular contents were dispersed. 
There was no indication of life in any of the dispersed 
granules, and all that remained of each spherule was a 
ring of hardened ectoplasm. That this was a case of 
spore-dispersion is beyond the region of possibility. 
Fig. 15.—Stages in the dissolution of Ameba proteus. a, Con- 
dition of the living individual as first seen; b, c, fragments of 
protoplasm which became detached from the main body ; d, the 
larger of the two fragments burst and the contents dispersing ; 
e, f, g, stages in the dissolution of the main body; at g the 
body has finally dissolved, leaving only a ring of hardened 
ectoplasm. «x 150. 
The death of a Protozoan being so speedily followed 
by disintegration, it is not surprising that but few 
opportunities should occur of witnessing it. 
Distrisution, Hasrrats, ETC. 
The Rhizopoda are cosmopolitan. There is no quarter 
of the globe destitute of them, and whilst climate may 
favour an exuberance of certain forms, it is a curious 
fact that many which are familiar to us, in these islands, 
are quite as plentiful, varying hardly at all im struc- 
ture, in such widely separated regions as America and 
