INSPIRATION AND VISION 323 



attached a series of fringes, formed of minute 

 blood-vessels, and so constructed that the water 

 taken in at the mouth passes freely over them, 

 imparting to the venous blood they contain the 

 supply of oxygen necessary to its purification. 

 These organs are precisely analogous to the lungs 

 of terrestrial animals, and point out the same de- 

 sign adapted with equal precision to the element 

 in which the animal breathes, and for a similar 

 purpose. 



The eyes of fishes exhibit several striking pecu- 

 liarities pointing out special design and adaptation. 

 As the medium in which the sense of sight is to 

 be exercised is much more dense than air, the 

 form of the lenses of the eyes is accommodated to 

 the condition. The pupil also is large, so as to 

 admit as much light as possible to enter. In ter- 

 restrial animals the organ of sight is furnished 

 with glands, by which a fluid is secreted in order 

 that the surface of the cornea may be kept per- 

 fectly clean. This fluid forms a wash which is 

 passed over the eye by what is called the nic- 

 titating membrane. But in the fish this apparatus 

 does not exist, because it is unnecessary. The 

 element in which the animal lives performs the 

 office of keeping the organs perfectly free from 

 any substances which might impede the entrance 

 of the rays of light. While, therefore, in ter- 

 restrial animals the arrangement of gland and 

 membrane points out in a most striking manner, 

 the design of Infinite Wisdom, the absence of the 

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