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 

 a a a, there are two animalculae 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 ri^er-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 efiect- 

 ed on the other by the voracity of animals and other 



* For more fall 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. 



