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THIRD GREAT DIVISION. 

 ARTICULATA.* 



IN this, incomparably the most numerous Division 

 of animals, we find the majority possessing organs 

 of sense, muscular powers, and freedom and pre- 

 cision of motion, which are far superior to those 

 of the Mollusc a ; so that some eminent naturalists 

 have given them the higher place in the scale of 

 Creation. They have no internal bony skeleton, 

 as the Pertebrata, nor are they entirely destitute 

 of any, as the Mottusca, but it is external ; the outer 

 skin, hardened in most cases into a bony crust, 

 affording attachment to the muscles, and giving, by 

 its solidity, force and precision to their contractions. 

 Even in such as have comparatively soft bodies, 

 the skin is more or less tough and leathery in its 

 texture. 



The most obvious character of this vast assem- 

 blage of animals is, that they are composed of a 

 series of successive joints or rings, more or less 

 discernible in all; but in the higher Classes, such 

 as Insects and Spiders, they become, as it were, 

 soldered together, so that only two or three divi- 



* Articulus, a joint. 



