LOCAL. 135 



Amongst those that inhabit fluids, none are 

 more wonderful than those that are termed In- 

 fusories; 1 because they are usually found in in- 

 fusions of various substances, &c. ; when dry, 

 these animals lose all signs of life, but upon im- 

 mersion, even after the lapse of years, they im- 

 mediately awake from their torpor and begin to 

 move briskly about. Even the air, according to 

 Spallanzani, seems to contain the germes or 

 eggs of these infinitesimals of creation, so that 

 we swallow them when we breathe, as well as 

 when we drink. 



With respect to animals more entirely aquatic, 

 some inhabit, as the majority of sea-fishes and 

 animals, salt waters only, some salt at one time 

 and fresh at another, as the species of the salmon 

 genus, the sturgeon, &c. ; and some frequent 

 brackish waters, as some flat-fish, and shell-fish. 



The bed of the mighty ocean is not only 

 planted with a variety of herbs, which afford pas- 

 ture to many of its animal inhabitants, but it has 

 other productions which represent a forest of 

 trees and shrubs, and are, strictly speaking, the 

 first members of the zoological world, connecting 

 it with the vegetable ; these are denominated 

 Zoophytes or animal plants, and Polypes (Poly- 

 pus}. This last name has been adopted from 

 Aristotle ; with him however and the ancients, 



1 Infusoria, Acrita, Agastria, Amorpha, Microscopica. 



