BACKEVS M ONERS. 181 



over the blind forces of Nature, simply by the overmastering power 

 of a resolute and sagacious will, there would still exist abundant 

 grounds for believing that man has the power of modifying and 

 amending his own conduct ; that he is not the plaything of inflexible 

 Destiny; and that he may not give way, without resistance or re- 

 morse, to his evil instincts. Let us believe in heredity, in so far as it 

 may be made a means of improvement and of free perfectionment. 

 But let us withhold our assent when there is claimed for it a despotic 

 power so absolute as it would be madness to resist. Education has 

 not only to improve the race, but also to give men a desire for im- 

 provement, by showing them that it is possible. In alliance with a 

 judicious cultivation of desirable hereditary tendencies, education 

 overmasters noxious proclivities and regenerates the race. 



We must not, however, attribute to education an exaggerated im- 

 portance, nor imagine that by itself alone it can call forth preeminent 

 ability. Its influence, like that of heredity, is limited. Genius, which 

 is the most perfect expression of mind, considered as a free creative 

 force, is controlled by neither. It is a mighty tree whose fruits give 

 sustenance to generations, and the conditions of whose growth are 

 such that we can no more foresee or determine its appearing than we 

 can prescribe rules for its behavior afterward, or estimate its fruitful- 

 ness. Fortunately, geniuses are not indispensable, and, in proportion 

 as the national average rises, the less need is there for them. But the 

 general average rises of necessity when all the citizens are animated 

 with the one desire of improvement. Hereditary cultivation, pro- 

 ceeding by means of a rigid selection of the influences which tend to 

 improve the race, may be confidently commended to those nations 

 who are ambitious of holding the first rank in the world. — Revue des 

 Deux Mbndes. 



+•» 



HACKEL'S MONEES. 



By AIME SCHNEIDEE. 



THE moners are the simplest organisms we know of — we might 

 even say, the simplest that can exist. In them, life is exhibited 

 under the form that is best fitted to give us an idea of its essential 

 characters, stripped of all secondary attributes. The first moner was 

 discovered by the celebrated Prof. Hackel, of Jena, in 1864, and the 

 number has gone on steadily increasing ever since. These discoveries 

 have made a great stir in the scientific world, owing to their bearing 

 on our theories of organization. 



The moner which best typifies the entire class is the Protomyxa 

 aurantiaca. This little creature, hardly visible to the naked eye, and, 

 at most, as big as a small pin-head, is of a fine orange-red color, con- 



