174 PICTURING MIRACLES 



worm has begun. It swims about for a period more 

 or less indefinite in form, a mass of cells, which in 

 time assume shape, each cell growing and dividing 

 and the new baby cells growing to the size of the 

 mother cell. This is the way growth in plant and an- 

 imal life is accomplished. 



The full-grown worm feeds in an ingenious man- 

 ner. Its mouth is small, too small to take in enough 

 water to sieve out the required quantity of the 

 microscopic plankton, so up near one opening of its 

 U-shaped burrow it spins a funnel-shaped web, at- 

 taching the top to the sides of the burrow, the other 

 end in its mouth. Its body then expands in rings 

 just below its head. These two or three rings half an 

 inch apart expand and contract, forcing a constant 

 stream of water from the opening in the burrow 

 through the web and then through its body and out 

 the other opening of the U-burrow. Every half hour 

 or so it swallows the web and any form of life therein 

 collected, then spins another web and so on and on. 



It takes as long to see this life story on the screen 

 as it takes to read about it. There are several months' 

 work in picturing it, but few of us could spare the 

 time to watch in nature all these steps, neither could 

 we get the same idea as by watching the story un- 

 fold on the screen in about three minutes' time. 



