II
So far the results appear significant even without statistical analysis. I have records for
forty-three churchyards and pH measurements will be made in the rest in due course. An
initial account of the species found from Autumn 1994 to Spring 1995 will be published
in the next Essex Naturalist. Further records are being collected.
Tony Boniface
Aeons ago, in the primaeval slime
Lived a lot of amoebae who were just killing time.
No-one was born and nobody died
To multiply amoebas you simply divide.
They were all alike, they spoke with one voice,
NaturalSelection didn't have any choice.
They were all related, they looked just the same,
They thought the same thoughts and they had the same name.
They were all called Henry, for as you can see,
There was nobody new and no evolution
Till the Great White Amoeba found a solution.
He smiled at a Henry from his pearly gate,
And suddenly its genes began to mutate.
Now oozing about on the ocean floor
With a lot of dull Henrys soon becomes a bore,
So Henrietta's advent was welcomed with joy.
At last an amoeba that wasn't a boy!
They gathered round and looked adoring
And all agreed she was not a bit boring.
They gathered round and gazed and sighed,
And Henrietta saw she would have to divide.
Their lives were pointless, without play or laughter,
They were rather shabby and they needed looking after.
She took a quick count and, smiling sweetly,
Lowered her eyes and divided neatly.
Now each Henry had a Henrietta
Things were looking up, life was getting better.
They woudn't part with their newfound wives
Though it meant an end to their once immortal lives
They had birth and change now, death and competition.
Omnia Mutantor was the new condition.
It wasn't quite so peaceful but MUCH more fun
And that's the main thing when all's said and done.
(found in a box of old material at the South London Botanical Institute, author unknown).
Sent in by Ken Hill