Morning journal and courier., 1882-08-10
Death not Universal.

From the Jouenal Of Scence.l
Whatever lives, we hear it said whether
plant animal must sooner or later die.
It will, therefore, greatly shock many per-
sons to learn that this is not strictly the case
We wish here to give room for no misunder-
standing, and if possible. for no Intentional
misinterpretation. All animals may die, but
death is not in all departments of the animal
kingdom an inherent absolute necessity. On
the contrary, in one of the two primary
divisions of the animal world, the Protozoa,
it is, though common enough, merely casual,
the result of some accident A Protozoon
may be swallowed up by some larger animal
it may be crushed out of extence, burnt, or
poisoned by ''disinfectants" is introduced into
the water or other fluid which it inhabits.
But it has no natural term of life, and, as we
shall presently see, cannot be spoken of as
young or old.
That this MAJ be understood we must
briefly compare the life history, and especi-
ally the reproduction, of the Metdzod and the
Pr0t0so0. In the former group-which in
cludes all the backboned animals from man
down to the humblest fish, all the insects,
mollusks, as we'll as lower forms of life which
scarcely attract popular notice-there Is
always distinct difference between parent
and offspring The latter is certainly por-
ton separated from the body of the parent
from the female in all those forms in which
there exist two sexes-but IL is as compared
with the parent minute in size, rudimentary
iu structure, and it has to increase in bulk,
and still more to undergo process of devel-
opnent, series of transformations, before
it reaches the normal stature and mode of it's
species. When this point has been attained
it enters upon the task of reproduction, and
gives birth to one brood of young ones, or in
the higher forms to several With these it
coexists for longer shorter time, and
then dies, the matter which constituted it's
body passing into decomposition. If we look
at these very familiar facts in the life of
MetaZoon, be it q man or an oyster, we find
that the ideas of BIRTH of growth, of maturi.
| ty, of parenthood, of natural term of life
| ending in death, at once suggest themselves.
Ii we examine such Metazoon we can, in
| most cases, at once decide whether 1t is in
the immature or the adult phase of it's being.
| But in the PrOt0sod--as Herr Butschh has
| not long ago pointed out in the Z0Ol0gische7
4 nseiger-thls is distinctly different.
| Let us suppose we are watching through a
| microscope one of these minute single cell
creatures We see it expanding into an clip
| soidal figure, which becomes for q time long
| or and longer. 1t then begins to contract
| about what we may, for the sake of popular
| intelligibility, call its equator. 1t assumes
the form of two nearly globular bodies, con-
nected, dumb bell like, by narrow neck.
| This neck becomes narrower and narrower,
and at last the two globes are set free, and
| appear as two individuals in place of one
| What are the relations of these two new
! beings to the antecedent form and to each
| other? We examine them with care they
are equal in size, alike in complexity, OF
rather simplicity, of structure. We canno
say that either of them is more mature Oh
more rudimentary than the other. We car
find in their separation from each other NJ
analogy to the separation of the young ami
NAL or the egg from its mother, or to thu
liberation of seed from plant. Neither o
them is parent, and neither offspring. Meth