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CLASS III. ROTIFERA.* 



THE invention of the Microscope opened up to 

 the consideration of man a world of beings, of which 

 he had not before the most remote idea; animals 

 far too small to be detected by the unassisted eye, 

 yet displaying equally with the Elephant and the 

 Whale the operation of Infinite Wisdom and Skill 

 in their formation. They have been usually called 

 Infusory Animals, from their swarming in waters 

 in which any vegetable or animal substance has 

 been for a few days infused; or, simply, Animal- 

 cules, from their minuteness. Modern investiga- 

 tions have proved, however, that these " minims of 

 existence" have little in common except their size ; 

 that while some (Monas^) appear only as moving 

 points, without any apparent organs, others, as the 

 Rotifer a, present a highly complicated system, ap- 

 proaching even the Crustacea. Of course, animals 

 differing so much as these ought not to be placed 

 together; yet, in a work like the present, we may 

 be permitted to dismiss the former with a brief 

 notice, even while professedly considering the more 

 highly organized animals of the latter description. 

 The section, then, of which we have taken the 

 Monas as an example, consists of moving atoms of 



* Rota, a wheel, and./ero, to bear. t Movaj, mowas, an unit. 



