WHITEFISH OF THE LAKE OF GENEVA 



falling from heaven, which on land seems absurd, has 

 its true counterpart in the waters. 



But I cannot complete my examination of these 

 little prisoners in the boat; it must be continued in the 

 laboratory to which I take them, and it requires all 

 the methods of scientific technique. In every respect 

 these little creatures are remarkable. The considera- 

 tion they deserve is not limited to this peculiar relation 

 of devourers and devoured ; it extends to the peculiarities 

 of their organic structure and its importance in the 

 series of creatures in their group. Related to the great 

 crustaceans, crabs, lobsters, shrimps and the like, as is 

 indicated by their possession of jointed or segmented 

 limbs, the segments of which can move one over the 

 other; by their having a carapace which covers their 

 body in whole or in part; by their breathing in the 

 water; they show that they are crustaceans on a small 

 scale not only as regards build, but in their general 

 structure. They are, as it were, preliminary sketches, 

 remote preludes, preserved from vanished ages until 

 our own day. In this world of ours, they are survivors 

 of the creatures which first appeared on the globe, 

 and their multitude, their diversity, even to-day, give 

 evidence of the power which established them. 



Despite their unlikeness, despite the very appreciable 

 differences in the details of their structure, they all 

 look like members of the same family. They are small ; 

 the largest of them seldom more than a centimetre in 

 length; the dimensions of the smallest vary round 

 about a millimetre. Their body is translucent, some- 

 times absolutely transparent: it is their movement 

 which generally makes them visible. All one sees of 

 them is the black stain of their eyes, and a few coloured 

 indications of their internal organs. Their thin, 

 delicate carapace is also transparent. So are their 

 limbs, often long and numerous, unequal in shape 

 and size, bristling with delicate hairs projecting on 

 all sides. With these they beat the water, making 

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