UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 41 



calling them organized beings, he meant the sub- 

 stance of the sponge, or the insects that are sup- 

 posed to form it. 



" It is curious," replied he, cc that two thou- 

 sand years ago, the Greeks were occupied with 

 this very inquiry; some endeavouring to prove 

 the vitality of sponge, and others, to shew that 

 it was merely the work of certain worms : and 

 even so late as the year 1752, Peysonnel, the 

 naturalist, communicated to the Royal Society a 

 paper in support of this last opinion. 



" Most naturalists, however, now agree in re- 

 garding sponge as a zoophyte, or a kind of 

 animal approaching nearly to the form and na- 

 ture of a plant ; and Linnaeus himself, latterly, 

 classed it amongst animals. As the large orifices 

 appeared to be the only means of entrance to the 

 internal canals, it was supposed that the nourish- 

 ment of this animal was drawn in through them ; 

 but later discoveries have shewn that, besides 

 those apertures, there are minute pores over tha 

 whole surface ; that through these pores the 

 water is imbibed, by which the creature is nou- 

 rished ; and that the large round holes convey a 

 constant stream of water away /row the interior 

 of the body. This stream carries off the par- 

 ticles of matter which are constantly separating 

 from the interior, and which are not only percep- 

 tible by the assistance of the microscope, but 

 may be occasionally seen by the naked eye, like 



E 3 



