BOOKS REVIEWED. 



267 



case of archebiosis, whether from the mineral world or from organic 

 infusions. 



With regard to the second half of the book, the reader must judge for 

 himself as to the interpretation of Dr. Bastian's descriptions and photo- 

 graphs ; but, as we observed, when we read that monads, fungus-germs, 

 and amoebae each and all come from masses of zoogl&a, it is very 

 difficult not to think that the germs were all there at first. Moreover, 

 there is no proof that they were not. If 144° C. for five minutes was 

 applied to closed tubes, and yet torulce and fungus- spores were found in 

 it, one can do no more than infer that this temperature had not killed 

 their germs. " Zcogloea " appears to be a secretion from bacteria on a 

 "jelly-like, glceal substance" as Dr. Bastian describes it (p. 185) ; but 

 " zooglcea masses" are "aggregations of separate bacteria imbedded in a 

 jelly-like material . . . and are destined ultimately to be converted into 

 numbers of flagellate monads or of amoebae, while others become resolved 

 into heaps of fungus-germs." Dr. Bastian adds: "I have found it 

 impossible to tell in their early stages, from the mere microscopical 

 appearance of the zoogloea masses, whether they are destined ulti- 

 mately to yield monads or fungus-germs " (p. 185). " I thoroughly 

 satisfied myself that the corpuscles are, as a matter of fact, only in- 

 dividualised portions of the general zooglcea mass of which the pellicle 

 is composed, each corpuscle containing several bacteria." " The corpuscle 

 appears as a pellucid sphere, having a single flagellum and containing 

 four or five bacteria." This is a monad, and a distinct nucleus now 

 forms within it. Again, one asks, what starts the formation of the 

 "corpuscle" among all the bacteria, if it be not an invisible germ or 

 " pre-monad," as it might be called? 



Another case is that of diatoms. They are found within sub-stomatal 

 spaces. Dr. Bastian thinks that the evidence is overwhelming against 

 chemotaxis and infection by diatoms. Adult forms may be too large to 

 enter ; but he does not allude to the fact which Ralfs found, and figured 

 in the " Micrographical Dictionary " half a century or so ago, and G. Murray 

 seems to have rediscovered, that a diatom can develop a number of smaller 

 ones within itself. It has not been shown that the latter could not pass 

 through a stoma. 



Dr. Bastian proceeds to describe how Anabena can arise out of chloro- 

 phyll granules, as well as the transformation of resting-spores of Vaucheria 

 into amoebae. He finds motionless spheres in the place of chlorophyll ; 

 what is the proof that they are amoebae ? No mention is made of 

 pseudopodia or motion. Another astonishing change is that " myriads 

 of Actinophrys will appear within the closed cells of Nitella, by a 

 transformation of chlorophyll corpuscles." 



Ciliates can owe their direct amoeboid origin to the pellicle (p. 231). 

 " I call this ' an amoeboid origin ' in the pellicle, because these corpuscles, 

 when they become larger than the tiniest specks, are seen to resemble 

 embryo amoebae in a resting stage." . . . "The early stages of these 

 matrices have been demonstrated to be mere aggregates of bacteria, of a 

 kind similar to those existing in the pellicle around them. Each of these 

 aggregates becomes enclosed by a delicate bounding membrane, develops 

 a nucleus, and then becomes evolved into an active embryo ciliate. This 



