The Principles of Biology, Volume 1 (of 2)Spencer, Herbert
Science
The Principles of Biology, Volume 1 (of 2)
Spencer, Herbert
Biology
In some simple types the limiting layer or cortical substance can scarcely
be said to exist as a separate element. The exoplasm, distinguished from
the endoplasm by absence or paucity of granules, is continually changing
places with it by the sending out of pseudopodia which are presently drawn
back into the general mass: the inner and outer, being unsettled in
position, are not permanently differentiated. Then we have types,
exemplified by _Lithamoeba_, constituted of protoplasm covered by a
distinct pellicle, which in sundry groups becomes an outer shell of various
structure: now jelly-like, now of cellulose, now siliceous or calcareous.
While here this envelope has a single opening, there it is perforated all
over--a fenestrated shell. In some cases an external layer is formed of
agglutinated sand-particles; in others of imbricated plates, as in
Coccospheres; and in many others radiating spicules stand out on all sides.
Throughout sundry classes the exoplasm develops cilia, by the wavings of
which the creatures are propelled through the water--cilia which may be
either general or local. And then this cortical layer, instead of being
spherical or spheroidal, may become plano-spiral, cyclical, crosier-shaped,
and often many-chambered; whence there is a transition to colonies.
Meanwhile the inclosed protoplasm, at first little more than a network or
foamwork containing granules and made irregular by objects drawn in as
nutriment, becomes variously complicated. In some low types its continuity
is broken by motionless, vacant spaces, but in higher types there are
contractile vacuoles slowly pulsing, and, as we may suppose, moving the
contained liquid hither and thither; while there are types having many
passive vacuoles along with a few active ones. In some varieties the
protruded parts, or pseudopodia, into which the protoplasm continually
shapes itself, are comparatively short and club-shaped; in others they are
long and fine filaments which anastomose, so forming a network running here
and there into little pools of protoplasm. Then there are kinds in which
the protoplasm streams up and down the protruding spicules: sometimes
inside of them, sometimes outside. Always, too, there is included in the
protoplasm a small body known as a centrosome.
Lastly, we have the innermost element, considered the essential
element--the nucleus. According to Prof. Lankester, it is absent from
_Archerina_, and there are types in which it is made visible only by the
aid of special reagents. Ordinarily it is marked off from the surrounding
protoplasm by a delicate membrane, just as the protoplasm itself is marked
off by the exoplasm from the environment. Most commonly there is a single
nucleus, but occasionally there are many, and sometimes there is a chief
one with minor ones. Moreover, within the nucleus itself there have of late
years been discovered remarkable structural elements which undergo
complicated changes.
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