654 NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 
granules also are moving. Again we look; it has now as- 
sumed a shape something like an outline of a map of Italy. While 
you are looking it has again changed. You ask what is that? 
That is one of the simplest forms of animal A 
life; it is called the Amceba or Proteus. (Fig 
figures illustrating this article are copied from 
Clark’s “ Mind in Nature.”) 
In the Ameeba we see an animal that breathes 
without lungs or gills, digests without a stom- 
ach, moves without limbs, and contracts without 
muscles. Like other animals of simple type, 
which live for the most part in the deep sea, 
and which from the possession of root-like feet, 
are called Rhizopods, its body is composed of a 
jelly-like substance called sarcode. Some of 
these creatures have silicious and some calcare- 
ous shells, while others have none at all. 
Ameeba digiuens, 
You will ask how does 
the Ameeba live, and how does it feed? We shall endeavor to 
show. Although without a nervous 
system, it is nevertheless very sensi- 
tive, as will be seen. 
That other creature near it is 4 
Rotifer or wheel-bearer. If you watch 
you will now see how and upon what 
the Ameeba feeds. As its body flows 
and contracts, it is nearing the Roti- 
fer which is attached by its foot to 
the glass, unconscious of his fate. 
Presently the little mass of jelly flows 
and touches him, but too late for the 
Rotifer to make his escape ; as if stim- 
ulated by the contact, the Amoeba has 
fairly covered him, and through its 
transparent body the Rotifer’s strug- 
gles for life are perceptible. All is 
over with it now, the laws of absorp- 
tion have so decreed it, and soon nothing will be left of it but its 
silicious covering. This is the way the Amæba feeds, by absorb- 
ing the juices of its victim. This creature is reproduced by fission, 
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