RHIZOPODA. 



23 



(pseudopodia) from various parts of the body, as if it 

 were falling apart ; then it retracts these transparen t feet 

 and becomes perfectly smooth and rounded, resembling a 

 drop of slimy, mucous mat- 

 ter. The body-mass is di- I 

 vided into a clear cortical and | 

 a medullary, granular mass ; 

 the outer highly contractile, 

 the inner granular portion 

 acting virtually as a stock of 



fnnrl TVioco o-rannloo liVo "P'^z. 'iO.—Amoiba diffluens 'ma. ^, the 



lOOa. inese grannies, like len-gand figure, the most usiml form; the 



i\\p. wraint! nf nlilnrnnhvll in "Sht shows the broad, flat pseudopodia; 



Dne grams OI Cnioropnyu m ^^-^ arrows indicate the direction of circular 



vegetable cells and in dia- *'™<''' ""^e^™"'*^---*-"^"''^''"^''- 

 toms and desmids, circulate in regular, fixed currents, the 

 arrows in the figure indicating the course of the circulating 

 food. The act of circulation is probably assisted by a con- 

 tractile vesicle (or 

 vacuole) usually 

 present. There is 

 besides a distinct 

 organ always pres- 

 ent, the nucleus (.see 

 Fig. 11), so that the 

 Amoeba earns the 

 right to be called 

 an organism. Its 

 food consists of one- 

 celled alga;, diatoms, 

 desmids, zoospores, 

 and portions of fila- 

 mentous algae, and it 

 possesses the power 

 _ ,^ .... of discrimination in 



Pig. tl.—AnmJia spluErococcm. ^, before aiviBion. •. » j rni, 



B, the same in its resting .stage; a, cyst or cell-wall; taking itS lOOd. ihe 



d, body-mass; c. nucleus; b, nucleolus. 0, Amceba . i i .i 



nearly divided. D, two young Amoebae, the result of AmCBDa liaS the JDOW- 



divislon. — After Haeckel. « • _ • „ 



er of moving in par- 

 ticular directions, stretching a millimetre in length ; it 

 selects appropriate food, and can engulf or swallow, digest 

 and distribute the food thus absorbed to various portions of 



