CLIMBING THE ANIMAL TREE 35 



" On the next branch to the trunk, or First Animal, 

 belong the Sponges ; they are plant-like water animals 

 that cannot move. Then the Jelly Fishes and Sea 

 Anemones, which are masses of clear, jelly-like stuff 

 floating in the sea, and many of these are beautifully 

 colored." 



" I saw some Jelly Fish when we were at the shore this 

 summer," said Dodo. " I walked on some, and though 

 they felt so slimy they sort of made my feet tingle." 



" Olive," said the Doctor, " suppose you take out the 

 blackboard and write the names of these lower branches 

 who have no backbones." 



THE TRUNK AND SOME OF THE LOWER BRANCHES 

 OF THE ANIMAL TREE 



Protozoa or The trunk. The lowest form of animal life, 

 First Animals body ; a single cell. Most of them too small 

 to be seen without microscope. 



1. Sponges .... Plant-like water animals that cannot move. 



2. Jelly Fishes . . Round masses of clear, jelly-like stuff floating in 



the sea. Sea Anemones, etc. 



3. Corals . . The white, lace-like specimens that you have 



seen in cabinets, or the polished pink sprays 

 that are made into ornaments or carved into 

 beads. You may have thought these some 

 sort of stones, but corals are tiny, soft-bodied 

 animals living in cases made of lime. Many 

 of these cases built up close together form the 

 beautiful shapes that you know. 



4. Star Fishes . . The five-pointed prickly animals found on sea 



beaches. Sea Urchins, etc. Crinoids, etc. 



5. Worms Long squirming animals, of both land and 



water ; also living as parasites upon the in- 

 sides of other animals, 



