10 LESSON I. 



Child. It is derived from the Latin, Tentare, 

 to try. 



Teacher. But what must they possess in 

 order to be able to feel ? 



Child. Nerves. 



Teacher. I will now read to you a summary 

 of your lesson, and I shall expect you afterwards 

 to write it from recollection. 



Teacher. The mollsuca have soft, slimy, cold, 

 fleshy, and contractile bodies. They have 

 no bones, but their shell acts as a support to 

 their frame. They have muscles by which 

 they are attached to their shells, and by which 

 they move their bodies. They are enclosed in a 

 skin called the mantle, or sac, which is full of 

 pores and glands. Sometimes the animal is so 

 completely enveloped in this, as only to present 

 an opening where the mouth is situated, some- 

 times it spreads over the shell, and sometimes it 

 has external expansions answering the purpose 

 of fins. The mollusca have not warm red blood, 

 but a white cold fluid issues from their hearts 

 and circulates through their frames. They 

 have nerves, and consequently, feeling ; and this 

 sense seems most accute in their tentacula. Some 

 have eyes, but others do not enjoy the sense of 

 sight. They appear to have the power of smel- 

 ling and tasting, but no traces of ears have been 

 discovered.* 



* This little summary of the substance of the lesson may 

 be read over twice to the children, and they should then be 



