104 



WESTERN SERIES OF READERS. 



Figure 



food to numberless ani- 

 mals. Some of them are 

 even eaten by men, and 

 valuable chemicals are 

 obtained from their 

 ashes. 



If you turn back some 

 of these limp plants, you 

 will probably find sev- 

 eral interesting forms of 

 life nestling beneath them, and among 

 these forms will probably be a number 

 of mollusks. 



The first are the 

 Chitons (ki'tons), 

 some of which are 

 shown in the il- 

 lustrations. Queer 

 creatures are these 

 Chitons, very slow in their move- 

 ments, shy in their habits, and, 

 withal, perfectly harmless. They 

 are generally found clinging 

 firmly to the surface of a rock, 

 and often they select cracks and 

 crevices for greater safety. 

 Figure 59. If you pry One of them off with 



Figure 58. 



