2S 



LIFE, IN ITS LOWER FORMS, 



dimensions to most others of the class, we may compare it 

 to the planet Jupiter surrounded by a host of moons.* 

 The Stentors, also, are of comparatively large size, being 

 distinctly visible to the naked eye ; these resemble trum- 

 pets in form. One beautiful species, hence named 

 Trachelocerca olor, charms the eye by its close resemblance 

 to a swan. It has a plump, rounded body, a slender- 

 pointed tail, and a very long and graceful neck, the 

 motions of which, thrown into arching curves, and pro- 

 truded in every direction, give the most lively represen- 

 tation of the elegant waterfowl after which it is named. 

 Indeed, in one species of this genus, T. biceps, we may see 

 the living representative of the celebrated bird usually 

 considered to be as scarce as the lost Dodo itself — the 

 swan with two necks. 



The genus Amoeba has long been celebrated among 

 microscopists, from its power of constantly changing its 

 form, whence it is sometimes called the " Proteus." It 

 consists of a mass of clear, jelly-like matter, with a few 

 granules, two or three of the supposed stomachs, and a 

 contractile bladder. But its peculiarit}' is that which we 

 have just mentioned. It is ever altering its outline; and 

 to so great a degree, that not only are no two ever found 

 alike, but the same specimen does not retain the same 

 shape for two successive minutes. Here a point projects 

 and gradually pushes out more and more, while a sinuosity 



* Many of the organisms which, principally on account of their spontaneous 

 movements, were considered as animals, when Professor Ehrenberg published 

 his elaborate work, "Die Infusions-thiercheu," are now generally admitted to 

 be plants. And there are not a few who contend that the beautiful Gonium 

 and Volvox must be removed from the domain of the zoologist also. As this 

 position is not, however, quite established, their elegance pleads for them to 

 remain for the present where we have put them. 



