ameba

[Gr. ἀμοιβή ( amoibe ) = (1) a recompense, (2) a change from ἀμείβω (ameibō) = to change.] Zool. A term applied to a Protozoon which perpetually changes its form. It is cla ed under the Rhizopod a. It is among the simplest living beings known, and might be described almost as an animated ma of perfectly transparent moving matter. Amœbæ may be obtained for examination by placing a small fragment of animal or vegetable matter in a little water in a wine-gla , and leaving it in the light part of a warm room for a few days. (Prof. Lionel S. Beale : Bioplasm , 1872, § 75, pp. 49, 50.) The Amorba diffluens is sometimes called, from its ince ant changes of form, the Proteus .