CLASSIFICATION AND CREATION. 63 
point, that excited my own wonder at the time, 
and may not be uninteresting to my readers. 
I had received from Detroit, through the kind- 
ness of Messrs. Higby and Stearns, one of these 
singular animals. When I first saw it, it was 
coiled up in a close roll at the bottom of a 
bottle filled with fresh water, and looked more 
like a little tangle of black sewing-silk than any- 
thing else. Wishing to unwind it, that I might 
examine its entire length, I placed it in a large 
china basin filled with water, and proceeded very 
gently to disentangle its coils, when I perceived 
that the animal had twisted itself around a bun- 
dle of its eggs, holding them fast in a close em- 
brace. In the process of unwinding, the eggs 
dropped away and floated to a little distance. 
Having finally stretched it out to its full length, 
perhaps half a yard, I sat watching to see if this 
singular being that looked like a long black 
thread in the water would give any signs of life. 
Almost immediately it moved towards the bun- 
dle of eggs, and, having reached it, began to sew 
itself through and through the little white mass, 
passing one end of its body through it, and then 
returning to make another stitch, as it were, till 
the eggs were at last completely entangled again 
in an intricate network of coils. 
It seemed to me almost impossible that this 
care of offspring could be the result of any in- 
