170 MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



gradual change exhibited by the Annelids from the 

 vivacious Nereis with its powerful teeth-armed pro- 

 boscis and numerous feet, down to the soft-bodied 

 Leech and limbless Earth-worm. Thus we find 

 crawling on the earth, or winging through the air, 

 peopling the ocean, the river, and the swamp, or 

 lending new beauty to the leaves, the flowers, and 

 the trees, active, eager, Annulose creatures, bent 

 upon rapine, eager for food, ardent in love, bust- 

 ling, chasing, slaying, and caressing over the entire 

 domain of Nature's Kingdom. 



III. — Sub-kingdom of Annulose Animals 

 (Annulosa). 



Nervous system composed of two parallel chords, 

 united by a regular series of ganglia ; body symme- 

 trical, jointed, often with jointed appendages ; re- 

 spiratory organs distinct ; jaws, when present, lateral, 

 with lateral movements. 



INSECTS. 



The travelling naturalist will find himself sur- 

 rounded by the wonders of the insect-world, what- 

 ever may be his destination. The singing of Gicadce 

 in the woods, the leaping of Grasshoppers in the 

 prairies, the flitting lights of Fire-Flies at night, 

 §*th.e glittering forms of Beetles in the sun, the nests 

 of Wasps hanging on the trees, the galls of Gyni- 

 pidce on the leaves, the cocoons of Moths in cre- 

 vices of bark, the flights of Locusts on the plains, 

 the ravages of Aphides, the depredations of Ants, 



