ZOOPHYTES IN GENERAL. 1? 



horns ; the star-fish contracts its arms upon the 

 appearance even of distant dangers : they not 

 only hunt for their food, but provide for their 

 safety ; and however imperfectly they may be 

 formed, yet still they are in reality placed many 

 degrees above the highest vegetable of the earth, 

 and are possessed of many animal functions, as 

 well as those that are more elaborately formed. 



But though these be superior to plants, they 

 are very far beneath their animated fellows of 

 existence. In the class of zoophytes, we may 

 place all those animals which may be propagated 

 by cuttings ; or in other words, which, if divided 

 into two or more parts, each part in time becomes 

 a separate and perfect animal j the head shoots 

 forth a tail, and on the contrary the tail produces 

 a head. Some of these will bear dividing but into 

 two parts, such is the earth-w T orm ; some may be 

 divided into more than two, and of this kind are 

 many of the star-fish ; others still may be cut into 

 a thousand parts, each becoming a perfect ani- 

 mal ; they may be turned inside out, like the 

 finger of a glove, they may be moulded into all 

 manner of shapes, yet still their vivacious prin- 

 ciple remains, still every single part becomes per- 

 fect in its kind, and after a few days' existence, 

 exhibits all the arts and industry of its contempti- 

 ble parent ! We shall, therefore, divide zoophytes 

 according to their several degrees of perfection, 

 namely, into Worms, Star-fish, and Polypi ; con- 

 tenting ourselves with a short review of those 

 nauseous and despicable creatures, that excite 

 our curiosity chiefly by their imperfections. It 



