CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 369 
in its whole length by which its direction and length can 
be altered. When the little creature is alarmed, it sinks 
down quickly to the place of its attachment by coiling its 
stem, or cable, as it may be called. In some cases, as at 
aaa, there are two animalcule on one stem, one hav- 
ing grown out from the other, after the manner of some 
of the coral Polypes (§ 612). You see in the figure some 
stems without any animalcules. Here they have sepa- 
rated themselves from their attachment and swum away. 
It is an emigration to better their condition and begin a 
new colony.* 
640. The field to which I have in this book introduced 
the pupil is a very broad and fruitful one, and on every 
side invites, in the most attractive manner, your investi- 
gation. Go, then, into the garden and the field, to the 
sea-side and the river-side, to the pond and the bog, and 
watch the movements of animals, and gather materials 
for observation at home. The Aquaria, now so properly 
becoming fashionable, furnish admirable means for carry- 
ing on some of these observations. Even with but a 
small portion of your time devoted to the investigation 
of nature, you will soon find that you do not need to go 
to a museum to see the wonderful and the beautiful cre- 
ations of Almighty power, but that these are all around 
you, and even in the dust beneath your feet. 
641. The animal kingdom is a great harmonious whole, 
with all its forms, from the minute Infusoria to the mon- 
strous Elephants and Whales, having fixed relations to 
each other. These relations are not all known, but more 
and more of them are every day discovered. And amid 
all the apparent confusion and hazard attending the nat- 
ural increase on the one hand, and the destruction effect- 
ed on the other by the voracity of animals and other 
* For more full information in regard to the Infusoria, I would rec- 
ommend to both teacher and pupil a work by Professor Brocklesby, 
entitled ‘‘ Views of the Microscopic World,” published by Pratt, Oak- 
ley & Co. . 
Oe 
