Page:Philosophical Review Volume 1.djvu/507

the foreign particle is not a nutritive substance, if it be gravel for instance, the Amœba does not ingest it; it thrusts it back with its pseudopodia. This little performance is very significant; for it proves that this microscopic cellule in some manner or other knows how to choose and distinguish alimentary substances from inert particles of sand. If the foreign substance can serve as nutriment, the Amœba engulfs it by a very simple process. Under the influence of the irritation caused by the foreign particle, the soft and viscous protoplasm of the Amœba projects itself forwards and spreads about the alimentary particle somewhat as an ocean-wave curves and breaks upon the beach; to carry out the simile that so well represents the process, this wave of protoplasm retreats, carrying with it the foreign body which it has encompassed. It is in this manner that the food is enveloped and introduced into the protoplasm; there it is digested and assimilated, disappearing slowly” (p. 41). Binet adds: “In a large number of species the prehension of food is preceded by another stage, the search for food, and in the case of living prey, by its capture. We shall not investigate these phenomena among all the Protozoa, but shall direct our attention especially to the ciliated Infusoria. Their habits are a remarkable study. If a drop of water containing Infusoria be placed under the microscope, organisms are seen swimming apidly about and traversing the liquid medium in which they are in every direction. Their movements are not simple; the Infusory guides itself while swimming about; it avoids obstacles; often it undertakes to force them aside; its movements seem to be designed to effect an end, which in most instances is the search for food; it approaches certain particles suspended in the liquid, it feels them with its cilia, it goes away and returns, all the while describing a zigzag course similar to the paths of captive fish in an aquarium; this latter comparison naturally occurs to the mind. In short, the act of locomotion, as seen in detached Infusoria, exhibits all the marks of voluntary movement” (p. 46). With one more short extract I shall conclude my citations. “There exist organisms which lead a life of habitual isolation but which understand how to unite for the pur-