THE BRICK-MAKER. 21 



demonstrated their presence. Moreover, the idea 

 suggested by their presumed disappearance, that 

 because the creature no longer leads a rambling 

 life, that therefore it no longer requires organs of 

 vision, is out of harmony with all natural analogy, 

 and especially so with the animal before us. Our 

 further observations place it among those beings 

 on whom nature has bestowed complexity of 

 structure, and relatively high capacities for both 

 use and enjoyment. 



And first, let us remember, our tiny acquaintance 

 is naked and homeless. Nature, however, is kind, 

 and has furnished it with a ready-made brick- 

 making machine ; which, being part of its own 

 organisation, is ready for immediate use and is not 

 likely to get out of order. Perched on the leaf of 

 a plant, the machinery is set in motion : a trans- 

 parent flower-like crown, having four lobes, is 

 gradually expanded. This is fringed with a 

 double row of cilia, which produces a motion of 

 exquisite beauty. It is of a rotary character ; and 

 so, by producing a corresponding motion in the 

 surrounding water, any inorganic matter therein 

 floating is drawn into the vortex, is caught up by the 



