266 



TIIALASSEMACE.K. 



With this notice of an 

 animal in which the cha- 

 racteristic features of the 

 Radiate type are almost 

 obliterated, I conclude my 

 account of the British Echi- 

 nodermata. Among them 

 we have seen some of the 

 most extraordinary forms in 

 the animal kingdom, some 

 of the most wonderful struc- 

 tures and of the strangest 

 habits. Much yet remains 

 to be done towards their elucidation, and the investigation 

 of them both structurally and formally presents a wide field 

 of inquiry to the student of Nature, as yet but imperfectly 

 explored. The great naturalist of Denmark, Midler, long 

 ago said that we need not resort to distant regions and 

 foreign climes for rare or wonderful creatures ; that the 

 fields, the woods, the streams, and the seas of our native 

 lands abounded in wondrous evidences of God's power 

 and wisdom. The investigation of our native animals 

 must ever be a chief source of sound zoological know- 

 ledge, for it is there only we can watch, under favourable 

 circumstances, for the observation of their developement, 

 their habits, and their characters. The naturalist whose 

 acquaintance is confined to preserved specimens in a cabi- 

 net, can form but a vague idea of the glorious variety of 

 Nature, of the wisdom displayed in the building up of the 

 atoms of matter to be the houses of life and intellect. 

 And unless we study the creatures living around us, how 

 can we gain that delightful knowledge ? The passing note 

 of an animal observed during travel is an addition to 



