THE COASTS OF SICILY. 265 



verted bell, tlie place of the tongue being supplied 

 by the mouth which serves as an entrance to the 

 stomach ; in the Lesueuria this first cavity is followed 

 by a second, to which the coarser parts of the food 

 do not penetrate. The liquids which enter this 

 cavity are carried towards the circumference by 

 one system of canals, whilst other special vessels 

 carry them back to their starting point. This move- 

 ment reminds us to a certain degree of that of the 

 blood in the mammals ; but here it is the stomach 

 which fulfils the functions of the heart, whilst the 

 same canals serve the part of intestines, arteries, 

 and veins. 



These vessels, moreover, do not convey any special 

 liquid meriting the name of hlood. It is not even 

 chyle, properly so called. The water in which the 

 animal lives penetrates — one might almost say acci- 

 dentally — into its interior. In its passage it takes 

 up the substances which have been digested by the 

 stomach, and conveys them into the cavity of the 

 body which they are to nourish. In passing away 

 again, this same water carries with it, indiscrimi- 

 nately, the remains of these substances, and the 

 elements of which the organism strives to free itself. 

 At the same time it also serves the purposes of 

 respiration, no less than those of digestion and cir- 

 culation. Here, as we see, all the organs are still 

 confounded ; and this very confusion explains the 

 evident imperfection of the animals which we have 

 been considerino-. 



The isolation of these functions by the appear- 

 ance of organs specially appropriated to each of 



