NATURAL IllSTOUY RECREATIONS.^ 171 



They are large in comparison with the former, and arc only loO times 

 smaller than a line. 



I wish I dared enter largely into the description of many of these 

 infinitesimals of creation, but my limits will not allow it. I must be 

 very general, and of course, not satisfactory to many readers. 



In the milt of fishes, there are millions of minute animalcules, which 

 have tails. The Genus is Cercaria. It has been observed that the milt 

 does not perform its function, until these animals are developed in it, so 

 that they act an important part in the economy of nature. There is noth- 

 ing too small for God to work with, and there is nothing so small or 

 mean as to he beneath our scientific investigation. 



I said that many of these animals are furnished with ciliac or hairs, 

 which they keep in constant motion. Some of them have these only 

 in front, and by their motion an eddy is occasioned in the water, by 

 which still smaller animalcules are forced into their mouths. Many 

 (amoeba) have the faculty of assuming all sorts of Protean shapes, and 

 are constantly undergoing changes of appearance. The most bizarre 

 figures are taken on, and immediately they assume another, so that you 

 are reminded of an expert posture master on the stage. 



Some [Baccillaria) adhere to each other and look like a tape worm; 

 then they divide and form all sorts of regular figures. 



Some ( Vorticella) have the appearance of a flower, attached to a 

 stem by styles. This style is spiral and can be extended to a great 

 length. They draw themselves back with the rapidity of lightning and 

 then gradually unfold the style. Their appearance and habits are very 

 singular. 



The wheel animal (^Rotifer) is one of the most remarkable. Its ci- 

 liae, in front, look like wheels which are constantly turning round when 

 the animal is at rest, and the water flies about in a complete wheel. — 

 Now, all this convulsion of the water takes place in a space not larger 

 than the smallest word in this sentence!! and yet it is a convulsion, for 

 under the glass it is seen in a violent commotion, something like the 

 whirlpool below the Falls of Niagara. This is the animal which is 

 said to revive after having been dried for many years, and hence is called 

 Rotifer rediviva. 



Endless amusement is thus afforded by the microscope. Thousands 

 of animals may be seen at one view in a single drop of water, and if 

 you have good eyes, you will not soon grow weary of looking at their 

 fantastic evolutions. 



