Fig. 63.—Three Infusorians magnified
In these creatures we find, too, a distinct and permanent mouth, usually funnel-shaped, leading to the soft, interior substance, in which the food material becomes embedded while the process of digestion proceeds. Here, then, for the first time, we meet with a special portion of the body set apart for the performance of the work of a stomach; and, further, the process of digestion being over, the indigestible matter is ejected through a second permanent opening in the exterior cuticle.
Again, the infusorian does not move by means of temporary pseudopods, as is the case with the lower protozoons, but by means of minute hair-like processes which permanently cover either the whole of the body, or are restricted to certain portions only. These little processes, which are called cilia, move to and fro with such rapidity that they are hardly visible; and, by means of them the little infusorian is enabled to move about in its watery home with considerable speed.
In some species a few of the cilia are much larger than the others, and formed of a firmer material. These often serve the purpose of feet, and are also used as a means by which the little animal can anchor itself to solid substances.
As with the lower protozoons, the infusoria multiply by division; but, in addition to this, the nucleus may sometimes be seen to divide up into a number of minute egg-like bodies, each of which, when set free, is capable of developing into a new animal. Should the water in which infusorians have been living evaporate to dryness, the little bodies just mentioned become so many dust particles that may be carried away by air currents; but, although dry, they retain their vitality, and develop almost immediately on being carried into a suitable environment.
Infusorians are so called because they develop rapidly in infusions of various vegetable substances; and those who desire to study their structure and movements with the aid of a microscope cannot do much better than make an infusion by pouring boiling water on fragments of dried grass, and leaving it exposed for a few days to the warm summer atmosphere. The numerous germs floating in the air will soon give rise to abundance of life, including several different species of infusoria, varying from 1/30 to 1/2000 of an inch in length.
