CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEE I. 



Omnipresence of Life. — ^The Microscopei — An Opalina and its 

 Wonders. — The Uses of Cilia. — How our Lungs are protected 

 from Dust and Tilings. — ^Feeding without a Mouth or Stomach. 

 — What is an Organ? — How a complex Organism arises. — 

 Early Stages of a Frog and a Philosopher. — How the Plants 

 feed. — Parasites of the Frog. — Metamorphoses and Migrations 

 of Parasites. — ^Life within Life. — ^The budding of Animals. — 

 — A steady Bore. — ^Philosophy of the infinitely little Page 9 



CHAPTEE n. 

 Ponds and Eoek-pools. — Our necessary Tackle. — WimUedon 

 Common. — Early Memories. — Gnat Larvae. — Entomostraca 

 and their Paradoxes. — Eaces of Animals dispensing with the 

 sterner Sex. — Insignificance of Males. — Volvox Globator: is it 

 an Animal? — Plants swimming like Animals. — ^Animal Eetro- 

 gressions. — ^The Dytiscus and its Larva. — The Dragon-fly Lar- 

 va.-^Mollusks and their Eggs. — Polypes, and how to find them. 

 — ^A new Polype, Hydra rubra. — Nest-building Fish. — Con- 

 tempt replaced byEeverence 39 



CHAPTEE in. 



A garden Wall, and its Traces of past Life. — Not a Breath per- 

 ishes. — ^A Bit of dry Moss and its Inhabitants. — The "Wheel- 

 bearers." — Eesuscitation of Eotifers: drowned into Life. — 

 Current Belief that Animals can be revived after complete De- 

 siccation. — Experiments contradicting the Belief. — SpaUanzani's 

 Testimony. — Value of Biology as a Means of Culture. — Classi- 

 fication of Animals : the five great Types. — Criticism of Cu- 

 vier's Arrangement 59 



