V 



As it is the duty of the historian to interpret 

 facts as well as to relate them, it may appear to 

 some that I have not fulfilled this obligation in the 

 case of the flatworm. But surely the discerning 

 reader must have seen more in my meaning than 

 the mere relation of dry details would seem on 

 the surface to express; surely he must have divined 

 from the foregoing how great is his debt to that 

 lowly being; surely it must have occurred to him 

 that it is owing to the early flatworm that he now 

 holds his own commanding position among the 

 creatures of the earth. In a word, is it necessary 

 to interpret facts which so obviously speak for 

 themselves 4 ? 



Yet if this book has a purpose beyond the pre- 

 dominant one of establishing a fond acquaintance 

 between the reader and these humble forms of life, 

 it is that of forming also an intelligent acquaint- 

 ance. And I should be loath to defeat these ends in 

 a single instance — for who knows but that instance 

 may be some potential naturalist who later may be 

 moved to exert more than a passive interest in this 

 remarkable group? Therefore, I shall conclude 



[177] 



