74 
HISTOLOGY OF VEGETABLES. 
they will be found standing out in straight lines from 
the spore. But the most curious point connected with 
these elaters is the rapidity with which they embrace the 
spore when slightly moistened by the breath. If the 
moisture of the breath fall upon them, they will im- 
mediately coil themselves around the spore, and almost 
as quickly resume their original position, and this may 
be repeated an indefinite number of times. It has been 
considered by some persons that the phytozoa resemble 
the elaters, but that their motion is continuous. For 
the sake of comparison, the phytozoa of the Chara 
vulgaris are shown in Fig. 59 ; at c, a portion of one 
of the filaments is seen, it is composed of a series of 
cells of a somewhat square figure, arranged one above 
the other ; in each cell is a phytozoon. Two of these, 
detached from the cells, and more highly magnified, are 
represented by d d. 
