FAMILY CHAKACTERISTICS. 125 



swimming of the Frog, the swift run of the 

 Lizard, like a flash of green or red light in the 

 sunshine, the lateral undulation of the Ser- 

 pent, the dart of the Pickerel, the leap of 

 the Trout, the rush of the Hawk-Moth through 

 the air, the fluttering flight of the Butterfly, 



the quivering poise of the Humming-Bird, 

 the arrow-like shooting of the Squid through the 

 water, the slow crawling of the Snail on the 

 land, the sideway movement of the Sand-Crab, 



the backward walk of the Crawfish, the 

 almost imperceptible gliding of the Sea-Anemone 

 over the rock, the graceful, rapid motion of the 

 Pleurobrachia, with its endless change of curve 

 and spiral. In short, every Family of animals 

 has its characteristic action and its peculiar 

 voice ; and yet so little is this endless variety 

 of rhythm and cadence both of motion and 

 sound in the organic world understood, that we 

 lack words to express one half its richness and 

 beauty. 



