306 The Development of Orgmiisms [""CrS^i^fc'i^iS^' 
III. — The Developnent of Organisms in Organic Infusions. 
By 0. Staniland Wake, F.A.S.L. 
HAViNa made various experiments on the connection between 
animal and vegetable organisms in their lowest phases, a brief state- 
ment of them, and of the conclusions to which they lead, may not be 
without interest. A piece of a wine-bottle cork having been put 
into a small glass stoppered bottle of distilled water, two or three 
days afterwards, on examining the water under the microscope, I 
found that very fine filaments had been produced from some of the 
cork cells. There was no appearance of articulation in the filaments 
themselves, they having rounded bulging ends, by exudation from 
which the growth of the filaments was evidently produced. On the 
next examination I found that these had increased in size and 
length, and had become branched, and an approach was evidently 
being made to the cell formation. Numerous small round bodies 
were floating in the fluid, either separately or in masses, and there 
was the appearance of similar ones, either in the cells, visible 
through the transparent walls, or protruding from them. Some 
days afterwards, however, I observed on several of the stems clusters 
of these round bodies, resembling bunches of grapes, and at a 
later date some of them appeared to have become elongated and 
like bacteria, moved freely and irregularly, though slowly, with a 
jerking motion. Moreover, the cells of the fibre had become 
further marked, and many of them contained, or had attached to 
them, oval pieces of jelly-hke substance. These became separated, 
and occasionally united in masses or chains, some of them afterwards 
becoming enlarged and more irregular in shape. Another curious 
development showed itself in a large mass of very fine filaments 
bearing small bodies, oval in shape, but somewhat elongated at one 
end. These were apparently infusorial germs, as they much re- 
sembled others developed at a later period which were clearly of this 
character. They were also, probably, similar to monad-like bodies 
which appeared to be contained in many of the cells of the fungoid 
growth. These "monads" gradually became active, and finally 
they developed into infusoria, like what I believe is an early phase 
of Kolpoda cuGullus, many of them remaining for a considerable 
period attached by fine filaments. At the present moment the 
cork infusion displays all these various phenomena, animalcular 
life being very abundant, and there is the appearance of a new 
phase of vitahty in the form of minute seed-Hke bodies, occasionally 
clustered together in large masses. I may mention that this cork 
fungus has much the appearance of the so-called " cholera fungus." 
The closest analogy, however, to these phenomena is to be met 
with in milk or cream. The changes observable in an infusion 
