24 



LESSON V. 



SHELLS. 



Teacher. Well, did you find the study of 

 the mollusca as uninteresting and unprofitable as 

 you expected it to be ? 



Child. Oh no, we have, on the contrary, 

 learnt much that has interested and surprised us. 



Teacher. And what useful lesson may you 

 apply to yourselves from the mistake you first 

 made? 



Child. Not to look upon any .of the works of 

 God with indifference or contempt, but to feel 

 convinced that if they fail to excite our admiration, 

 it is on account of our ignorance. 



Teacher. The more you study Natural His- 

 tory, the more you will be inclined to acknow- 

 ledge this truth. Now I wish you to examine the 

 coverings of the mollusks, are there any parts 

 of other animals that can be compared to shells ? 



Child. The hard coverings of beetles are 

 something like them. 



Teacher. What strikes you as being the prin- 

 cipal difference between shells and the case in 

 which some insects are enclosed ? 



Child. Shells are like houses ; but the cover- 

 ings of insects fit the different members of their 

 bodies like a skin, and seem to be a part of the 

 animal itself. 



