HYALINE PSEUDOPODIA 103 



structure as above said. I do not, however, wish to deny- 

 that occasionally a bunch of pseudopodia may fill the oral 

 aperture, but the rule is what I have just mentioned. In 

 the protoplasm passing through the- oral aperture I have 

 often convinced myself in the plainest manner of the 

 meshed structure, and Fig. 1, Plate I. gives a picture of 

 it as true to nature as possible. From measurements I 

 reckon the longitudinal fibrillse to be about 1 /i apart. 



The protoplasm that is issuing forth first heaps itself up 

 in front of the aperture into an irregular mass, which pre- 

 sents the appearance of a tuft composed of confused fibre- 

 like meshes. On Plate I. Fig. 2 a small tuft of protoplasm 

 is figured in longitudinal optical section, which plainly showed 

 the fibro-reticular nature of the protoplasm. Larger tufts of 

 this kind appear, as a rule, more confused, but permit it 

 to be determined by careful investigation that their struc- 

 ture is a fibre-like meshwork. 



From this tuft the pseudopodia now take their origin, 

 being, as Schultze has already pointed out, usually com- 

 pletely hyaline and free from granules, and therefore showing 

 no trace of streaming. In specimens with richly-developed 

 pseudopodia they radiate out in every direction from the 

 oral region, or apparently from the mass of dirt, becoming 

 for the most part very long, and then also of great thick- 

 ness, and sending out numerous lateral branches which 

 usually come off at an acute angle. In very large pseudo- 

 podia the lateral branches, which may themselves branch 

 again, sometimes also come off at a right angle, and are so 

 numerous that the pseudopodium as a whole resembles a 

 pine-tree. Since it was not my intention to follow out into 

 details the general morphological relations of the pseudo- 

 podium, I will spend no more time over these matters, but 

 merely mention that I never noticed anastomosis between 

 neighbouring pseudopodia. 



It is a striking fact that at times single pseudopodia 

 appear sharply elbowed in certain places, a character which 

 further increases the impression of stiffness which these 

 pseudopodia as a rule give. 



As has already been pointed out, the pseudopodia appear 



