740 The American Naturalist. [August, . 
M. Binet's researches and conclusions show, " that psychological 
phenomena begin among the very lowest classes of beings ; they are 
met with in every form of life from the simplest cell to the most com- 
plicated organism." The author contests the theory of Prof. George 
J. Romanes, who assigns the first appearance of the various psychical 
and mental faculties to different stages or periods in the scale of zoo- 
logical devolopment. To M. Binet mind is an aggregate of properties 
which exclusively pertain to living matter, the existence of which is. 
seen in the lowest forms of life as well as in the highest. 
Prof Charles Richet contests this view in i\\e jRevue Scientifique, and 
maintains with Romanes, that the supposed exhibitions of con.scious- 
ness in the Protozoa are merely reflexes of protoplasm. 
M. Binet finds that the movements of many Protozoa when seeking 
food display evident design. He thus describes their actions : 
' ' In a large number of animacules the prehension of food is preceded 
by another stage, the search for food, and in the case of living prey, 
by its capture. We shall not investigate these phenomena among all 
the Protozoa, but shall direct our attention especially to the ciliated 
Infusoria. Their habits are a remarkable study. If a drop of water 
containing Infusoria be placed under the microscope, organisms are 
seen swimming rapidly about and traversing the liquid medium in 
the infusory guides itself while swimming about ; it avoids obstacles ; 
often it undertakes to force them aside ; its movements seemed to be 
designed to effect an end, which in most instances is the search for 
food ; it approaches certain particles suspended in the liquid, it feels 
them with its cilia, it goes away and returns, all the while describing a 
zigzag course similar to the paths of captive fish in aquariums ; this 
latter comparison naturally occurs to the mind. In short, the act of 
locomotion, as seen in detached Infusoria, exhibits all the marks of 
voluntary movement. 
"The hunter Infusoria are constantly running about in quest of 
prey ; but this constant pursuit is not directed toward one object any 
more than another. They move rapidly hither and thither, changing 
their direction every moment, with the part of the body bearing the bat- 
contact with a victim, they let fly their darts and crush it ; at this 
point of the action they go through certain manoeuvres that are 
prompted by a guiding will. It very seldom happens that the shat- 
tered victim remains motionless after direct collision with the mouth 
of its assailant. The hunter, accordingly, slowly makes his way about 
