Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata — John Shaqi
Text Book of Biology, Part 1: VertebrataWells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Science
Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata
Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Biology -- Textbooks
and the other the offspring; the amoeba we merely perceive, was one
and is now two. It is curious to note, therefore, that the amoeba is,
in a sense, immortal-- that the living nucleus of one of these minute
creatures that we examine to-day under a microscope may have
conceivably drawn, out an unbroken thread of life since the remotest
epochs of the world's history. Although no sexual intercourse can be
observed, there is reason to believe that a process of supposed
"cannabalism," in which a larger amoeba may occasionally engulph
a smaller one, is really a conjugative reproductive process, and
followed by increased vitality and division.
Section 52. Now if the student will compare Section 35, he will see
that in the white blood corpuscles we have a very remarkable
resemblance to the amoeba; the contractile vacuole is absent, but we
have the protoplasmic body, the nucleus and nucleolus, and those
creeping fluctuations of shape through the thrusting out and
withdrawal of pseudopodia, which constitute "amoeboid" motion. They
also multiply, in the same way, by division.
Section 53. It is not only in the white corpuscle of the blood that we
find this resemblance; in all the firmer parts of the body we find, on
microscopic examination, similar little blebs of protoplasm, and at an
early stage of development the young rabbit is simply one mass of
these protoplasmic bodies. Their division and multiplication is an
essential condition, of growth. Through an unfortunate accident, these
protoplasmic blebs, which constitute the living basis of the animal
body, have come to be styled "cells," though the term "corpuscles" is
far more appropriate.
Section 54. The word is "cell" suggests something enclosed by firm
and definite walls, and it was first employed in vegetable histology.
Unlike the typical cells of animals, the cells of most plants are not
naked protoplasm, but protoplasm enclosed in a wall of substance
(cell wall) called cellulose. The presence of this cellulose cell wall,
and the consequent necessity of feeding entirely upon liquids and
gases that soak through it instead of being able to ingest a portion of
solid food is indeed, the primary distinction between the
vegetable and the animal kingdoms, as ordinarily considered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account