114 OF THE CHARACE^. 



but granules of chlorophyll (the substance which gives 

 the green colour to plants), and they are being forced 

 along by a current of mucilaginous matter, termed proto- 

 plasm. What the purpose of this never-ceasing rotation 

 may be has not yet been discovered. 



In the Characese, also, may be observed the movements 

 of the spiral filaments or spermatozoids, which swim 

 actively in water, on being pressed out of the globule or 

 antheridium. 



