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HANDY BOOK OF 



bers they are found, how rapidly they multiply themselves 

 by separation, and that, from the first dawn of animated 

 nature to the present moment their rapidly-dying genera- 

 tions have followed each other, we can easily understand 

 that they are among the greatest builders of the earth ; so 

 that the entire bed of ocean is nothing but a catacomb of 

 Foraminifera and Diatomaceee. 



In addition, the sea is peopled by a countless number of 

 Infusoria, which move by the assistance of floating cilia, and 

 whose 'complicated organism often astounds us. This whole 



INFUSORIA. 



microscopic world serves as nourishment to rather larger 

 animals, whioh are again swallowed by more powerful crea- 

 tures ; till, finally, the larger fish, the sea-birds, the mam- 

 malia, and man, feed on the abundance of ocean. Their 

 disappearance would, in all probability, depopulate the 

 ocean. 



