248 ENTOMOLOGY. 



Infusoria. (Microscopic Animals discovered in 

 Water.) 



These are mere animated points, and appear to 

 constitute the ultimate term of organization, nou- 

 rished by absorption from the whole surface. 



Animals of this class have no visible mouth, sto- 

 mach, or internal vessels. They propagate by eggs, 

 buds, and spontaneous division, and appear to subsist 

 by decomposing water ; and they themselves form a 

 suitable repast for the annulose and molluscuous 

 tribes, which tribes, in their turn, contribute to sup- 

 port the vertebral races. In both kingdoms (animal 

 and vegetable) the smallest and most obscure species 

 are subservient to the welfare of those that are larger 

 and more perfect ; and every species whatever must 

 originate from the egg of a parent animal, for there 

 is no such thing as spontaneous generation. 



Vinegar Eels. 



Mr. Montzelius asserts, he was so fortunate as to 

 see vinegar eels undergo their last metamorphosis, 

 and change into small flies ; and it is highly probable, 

 that the whole race of animalcules are the worm 

 stage of some winged aerial insect, in all its stages 

 invisible to the naked eye. 



Spiders. 



Spiders pass the winter in a torpid state, enclosed 

 in their own webs. These insects ought not to be 

 extirpated in stables, for there is a natural alliance 

 between them and the horse. The more spiders' 

 webs, the fewer flies. 



