646 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [February n, 1371. 
the bottom of the ocean might be covered with one 
continuous mass of shell-deposit, produced by this 
protoplasm or sarcode, which is covering it at the 
present time; whilst on the other hand, this little 
Globigerina , instead of producing one continuous ex¬ 
tension, produces an enormous aggregate of what we 
are accustomed to call separate individuals ; simply 
because when a certain number is reached, the next 
bud is detached and begins a new shell, instead of 
going on in connection with the old one. 
Our best knowledge of the nature of these animals 
is derived from the study of some of the fresli-water 
forms, which are within the reach of every one. 
The Hampstead ponds are full of them. They were 
formerly called Protei, from the extraordinary va¬ 
riety of shapes which they present while being 
observed, but they are now called Amoeba. And 
we need not even go up to the Hampstead ponds 
for a specimen, for there is a very interesting paper 
in the last number of the Quarterly Microscopic 
Journal, by an Italian priest residing in London, 
who, following up some observations made in Ger¬ 
many, has found that these Amoeba are almost 
universally present, not only amongst the stems of 
aquatic plants, etc., but that even on pulling out a 
bit of moss from a damp wall and shaking it in 
water, some of these Amoeba are detached. It is a 
new and rather peculiar type, varying a little from 
the ordinary forms, but affording a most ready means 
of study within the reach of every one. Sometimes 
even you may find a bit of moss between the paving- 
stones in a back street which will afford you speci¬ 
mens for examination. 
This Amoeba I hold to be one of the most inter¬ 
esting of all microscopic objects, because it presents 
us with the phenomena of life in the most elementary 
form possible. It is a little bit of animated jelly, 
changing its form continually, and having nothing 
that can be considered an organization save this, that 
the outside of it is a little more dense than the inside. 
There is no skin, no definite membrane, but the ex¬ 
terior surface is like stiff jelly, while the interior is 
more like thin jelly; in fact, it is almost liquid. 
One of the most curious phenomena connected with 
it is the continual movement of particles in the in¬ 
terior. If you have some of these under the field of 
the microscope, you observe a continual agitation of 
the particles in the interior; this agitation will then 
appear to proceed in a certain direction, and will 
elongate itself into a sort of finger-like process, into 
which the body will appear to be drawn : then, per¬ 
haps, another will shoot out in another part, and 
gradually the body will follow and be drawn into 
that and so on; and in this manner it will gradually 
travel over the field of the microscope. It is by 
means of this movement that the creature gets its 
food. It comes in contact with some particle that 
may serve as nourishment to it; this particle pene¬ 
trates the substance of the body through any part of 
the exterior, and this proves distinctly that there is 
no membrane. A mouth extemporizes itself any¬ 
where, the particle is taken in, and when inside it 
becomes subject to this continual current that is 
moving about it. It thus undergoes a land of diges¬ 
tion, and if there is any hard part left in tins particle, 
after a time it works its way out through the surface 
again and is left behind. The body moves away 
from it and it gets out through the last edge of the 
surface-film and is thus extruded, so that an anus is 
extemporized as well as a mouth. In this manner 
this creature is continually travelling here and there, 
taking in articles which it has the power of appro¬ 
priating, and thus, without anything that can be 
called organs, it performs all the functions of life. 
It takes in food without a mouth, it digests it with¬ 
out anything which can be called a stomach, and it 
gets rid of inappropriate matter without anything 
which can be called intestines or an anus. It moves 
without muscles or a nervous system, and it propa¬ 
gates itself by subdivision. Indeed, there is some 
reason to think that it goes through a very curious 
process of conjugation: two little bodies meeting 
together, become fused into a mass which is the 
commencement of a new set of generations. Upon 
that point, however, further observations are veiy 
much wanted—and observation extends over several 
months—to see whether a winter change takes place 
in them as it does in many animalcules, a prepara¬ 
tion for a sort of torpid condition, which shall give 
place to renewed activity in the spring. This is a 
point on which any one with sufficient perseverance, 
who will devote liimself to this branch of the inquiry, 
may really do very good scientific work, and at the 
same time he cannot fail to interest liimself exceed¬ 
ingly. 
This is the simplest and most elementary form of 
life; and I shall surprise you, perhaps, when I tell 
you that there are certain corpuscles floating about 
in the blood-vessels, the white or colourless cor¬ 
puscles, which extremely resemble these Amoeba. 
If you draw a drop of blood and put it under a suffi¬ 
ciently high power of the microscope, and by a little 
application of heat keep it at about the temperature 
of the body, covering it with glass so as to prevent 
evaporation (not, however, pressing too much upon 
it), you will find in the midst of the red corpuscles, 
—which you know are disposed to run together in 
piles, like pieces of money,—in the clear spaces left 
between, you will find what are known as the white 
or colourless corpuscles of the blood, and if you ob¬ 
serve them attentive^ you will see the same kind of 
movement in the interior, and the same changes of 
form as are noticed in Amoeba. They put out 
finger-like processes in one direction and then in 
another, though they do not move so much over the 
field of the microscope as the Amoeba. They are, 
however, essentially organisms of the same character. 
Wliat their purpose is I do not purpose now to dis¬ 
cuss, but merely mention the fact. 
In the Hampstead ponds and many other collec¬ 
tions of water you will find some other forms wliich 
are known as “ sun animalcules.” These are much 
more stationary, and get their food in a different 
way to the Amoeba. They send out long, straight 
extensions, and we do not find the interior soft liquid 
passing into digitations, but they send out these 
rays, wliich frequently are glutinous on the surface, 
and they entangle minute animalcules which come 
in their way, just as an insect is entangled in a 
spider’s web. The other rays bend towards the one 
which has got hold of anything and coalesce with 
it; there is a kind of attraction amongst them, and 
some of the body, perhaps, will extend itself towards 
it, in the manner represented in this diagram. A 
film is sent out wliich completely invests the ani¬ 
malcule, and in this way it is gradually drawn into 
the body, where it is subjected to the digestive pro¬ 
cess. This is a very beautiful and curious animal- 
cule, if you have an opportunity of observing it witn 
a sufficiently high power. It does not move from 
