CLASSIFICATION AND CREATION 63 



point, that excited my own wonder at the time, 

 and may not be uninteresting to my readers. 



I had received from Detroit, through the kind- 

 ness of Messrs. Higbj and Stearns, one of these 

 singular animals. When I first saw it, it was 

 coiled up in a close roll at the bottom of a 

 bottle filled with fresh water, and looked more 

 like a little tangle of black sewing-silk than any- 

 thing else. Wishing to unwind it, that I might 

 examine its entire length, 1 placed it in a large 

 ohina basin filled with water, and proceeded very 

 gently to disentangle its coils, when I perceived 

 that the animal had twisted itself around a bun- 

 dle of its eggs, holding them fast in a close cm- 

 brace. In the process of unwinding, the eggs 

 dropped away and floated to a little distance. 

 Having finally stretched it ont to its full length, 

 perhaps halt* a yard, I sat watching to see if this 

 singular being that looked like a long black 

 thread in the water would give any signs of life. 

 Almost immediately it moved towards the bun- 

 dle of eggs, and, having reached it, began to sew 

 itself through and through the little white ma 

 passing one end of its body through it, and then 

 returning to make another stitch, as it were, till 

 the eggs were at last completely entangled again 

 in an intricate network of coils. 



It seemed to me almost impossible that this 

 care of offspring cou ] d be the result of any in- 



