194 METAMORPHOSES OF MAN 



body is borne upon a straight cylindrical stem, ex- 

 panded at its base, and which seems a little tube 

 of the purest crystal. 



Our Bpistylis does not remain long in an isolated 

 condition ; nor does it give rise to the new members 

 of the future colony by budding merely, as is the case 

 among the Campanularias, but by fission also. The 

 single individual resulting from the metamorphosis 

 of the larva divides itself completely into two parts ; 

 each of these halves remains attached to the parent 

 stem, undergoes its completion in that position, and 

 develops posteriorly a smaller stem, which gradually 

 elongates. We may say it is a sort of fork, each 

 prong of which is terminated by a living being. 

 After a while, each of these secondary branches 

 divides in its turn in a similar manner, and so on, 

 until from the first Epistylis there is produced a 

 crystal tree, whose divisions are perfectly regular, 

 and all of whose branches attain exactly the same 

 height.* 



The individuals thus formed by division are not 

 all destined to be constantly motionless. We oc- 

 casionally find that certain of them exhibit a con- 

 striction of the posterior portion of the body; a 

 circular groove is gradually formed, and its borders 

 are furnished with long vibratile cilia; the division 

 becomes deeper and deeper, and finally the Epistylis 

 drops from its stem like a wall-fruit. But it is not 

 destined to remain at the root of the tree from which 

 it falls. Thanks to the locomotive apparatus which is 

 placed posteriorly, it swims about with as much facility 



* The cluster of Epistylis has often been compared to flowers 

 which present a corymbose inflorescence. 



