218 AMPHITRITE. 



condemn the humble, the unresisting creature, as worthless, only fit to be 

 trodden under foot for it cannot make a blank in their eyes. Audacious 

 ignorance ! How can they presume to judge of Nature's works, having 

 never seen their progress ? Or, when they are revealed, are lost in the 

 incapacity of comprehending the means whereby the Divine energy has 

 stimulated the exercise of those faculties appropriated to relieve tempo- 

 rary necessities, or to provide for permanent conservation. 



Nothing is more admirable than the separate operation of so many 

 distinct organs to effect a single purpose. The plume forms a capacious 

 funnel, wherein thousands of cilia collect invisible niuddy atoms, which, 

 passing down the ribs of the branchiae, as so many channels, to a com- 

 mon conduit as their base, they there accumulate in loose pellets be- 

 low. The primitive simplicity of the muddy matter is not enough ; its 

 consistence and tenacity must be augmented by the incorporation of an 

 adhesive substance in transition from the scoop or tongue to the trowels, 

 whereby, concocted as paste, it may be employed in raising the edge of 

 the tube. On reaching its destination there, it is moulded into proper 

 shape, by the tongue or trowels merely applying it on the margin ; but 

 curving as far over the exterior circumference as they can stretch, they 

 actually polish the clay by moving them while clasping it by their pres- 

 sure. How does the artificer perfect its work, when the orifice appears 

 as circular, clear, and even, as the mouth of the cylinder finished by the 

 tool of an expert turner ? 



I know not whether any naturalist has witnessed the commence- 

 ment of the edifice, or can tell how the architect lays its foundation. 

 But certain it is, that the artificial structure results from the instinct 

 implanted by Nature in the living being. All that I can attempt to de- 

 scribe must be confined to the process for advancing it, for I have never 

 been fortunate enough to see its origin. It is otherwise with the Tere- 

 bellfB, for these animals, at whatever age, when expelled from their habi- 

 tation, can rapidly re-establish themselves by fabricating a new one. 

 This the Amphitrite cannot do. If once dislodged, it must remain ex- 

 posed and unprotected for ever. Perfect tube, Plate XXX. figs. 5, 6. 



Eight minute specimens occupied the slender branches of the Sertu- 



