PLANKTON STUDIES AND THEIR UTILITY. 285 



living creatures; and so you may follow the series down to the smallest 

 animal, one who can find no smaller victim. Among this lower class are 

 the copepoda. Their food is largely vegetable, and they are no doubt an 

 important element in the survival of the game fish during that critical 

 period of youth. Together with aquatic insects they make up the food 

 of the small fry of the game fishes. In the ocean they form the food 

 of the whale. They are a connecting link in animal life. No man can 

 foresee what would result, and few would believe if told, — if these insignifi- 

 cant animals should cease to be. 



