71 
can be indicated ; and much labour and trouble, and the 
employment of all accessory means at command, supply one 
merely with the fact that there is something present, with- 
out being capable in the slightest degree of denoting what 
its characters may be. In this sarcode arc presented light 
and dark spots, delicate, tortuous threads, very small gra- 
nules, and now and then a larger vesicle, indicating a limit 
by faintly shadowed lines which always disappear instantly 
when looked at closely. These threads, granules, &c., always 
keep at some distance from the outer border line, so that a 
still brighter margin surrounds the transparent inner mass. 
In some instances the outer limit of this margin was found 
curled and plicated ; it is a question, however, whether these 
individuals which presented this condition were in a state of 
perfect vitality. 
From this layer of sarcode, which at the most can be dis- 
tinguished only as a faint clouding around the enveloping 
membrane, now arise processes which, by virtue of their 
prismatic or cylindrically conical forms, can be better dis- 
cerned. At times they are found completely retracted; 
afterwards, some make their appearance at different parts of 
the circumference, and one can generally declare, so long as 
the lining membrane of the capsule is preserved, or remains 
not essentially altered, that these processes extend in a 
radiating direction, and are placed at right angles to the 
tangents of the spherical body. The most frequent form is 
that of a long needle with a very fine tip, which always 
remains straight even when the needle itself is slightly 
curved at its lower part. Among these needle-shaped pro- 
cesses exist, in several Radiolaria, flattened and lancet-shaped 
prolongations, which do not extend to so great a length, 
and which, like the former, take the direction of the radii of 
the spherical body. These, however, are distributed more 
sparingly over the surface, and are never projected simul- 
taneously with the needle-shaped processes. When, during 
a long sojourn under the microscope, a complete unfolding at 
all parts of the sarcode layer has taken place, these tongue- 
shaped processes may be seen distributed with moderate 
symmetry, and appear in number to bear a proportion to the 
finer and longer processes of one to four or five. Nothing 
more precise can as yet be supplied with regard to these 
processes ; and as during their full unfolding the movement 
becomes more active, and a rapid change of place continues 
to be associated with a more frequent rising and sinking in 
the water, it becomes extremely difficult, with the frequent 
change of focus and the concern about retaining the object 
