j
DRIFTING LIFE”
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113
boxes covered with delicate, interlacing, hair—like projections.
On Plate 88 are given drawings of some of the
commonest diatoms that would betound in any catch from
the northern and more temperate regions of the Atlantic
Ocean-and the seas. around‘its border.
There are,many
thousands ofdifferent species occùrng in the world, and this
is
place to- confuse the reader with'a medley of-Latih
names.
For those who may take a deeper interest inmaking
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the acquain‘tance of the different kinds 0fdiatoms and who
nd ‘delight in observing the marvellously delicate and
beautully designed structures of - these minute plants
through the microscope, a list of literature W1'b6 found at
-the end of this book.
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In addition to the _diatoms there are other single—celled
_
organism_s that help to swelrl the plantlife of the drting
community. .,They are especially remarkable because, be—
Sides containing thecOlouring-matter of plants, they possess
two tiny structures like the*lashes of a Whip which by
vigorousîwaving motion serve as a means of propelling the
creature thr0ugh the water.
Now, a true plant derives
all its nouriShment from
and diss‘olved salts that
are absorbed : through the
walls ;
it never takes in
solid particles of food as an animal does. Many. of these little
creatures, which are called “ peridinians,” have no coloura—
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tion and are able to swallow solid particles of food through
a small depression on their cell surface.
There are,’however,
a few which possess colouring matter'and also swallow solid
particles ; because they are able to feed like plants, and at
the same time utilize solid food like animals, they are
a
continual source of bickering in scientic circles, the
botanists
claiming thenr as plants and the
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that.theyare animals !
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Many of these peridinians consist only of “a little naked
cell with its Whip-like lashes, and are in- c0nsequece,‘