86 VIGNETTES FROM INVISIBLE LIFE. 



roaming in and about damp moss as well as in 

 pools and ponds o water. 



They have, however, acquired the very remark- 

 able power of sustaining life under conditions 

 which would be fatal to almost all other forms of 

 organic life ; for they will not only stand drying 

 up, but will remain in that condition for an 

 indefinite length of time ; so that having once 

 furnished yourself with some of this dry, dusty, 

 and latent life, you may send them in a letter to 

 your friend in Jerusalem, or anywhere else, or you 

 may keep them in your cabinet for an occasional 

 evening's entertainment. Thus taking this inani- 

 mate dust, and adding a few drops of water, you 

 will have the extraordinary privilege of seeing one 

 might almost say " these dry bones live." They 

 soon show signs of animate life and eventually 

 fully unfold and display all the activity of which 

 they are capable, as if no interruption to their 

 continuance had ever taken place. And in the case 

 of the Rotifers these activities are so very pleasing 

 that you will not very soon get tired of watching 

 their movements. They gradually unfold and 

 stretch themselves out, and after a few more move- 



