30 INVERTEBRATES. PROTOZOA 



our diet and should come into far more general use. ^The soy bean, 

 which is the Staple protein food of China, and the dasheen, introduced 

 Exhibit of with success from the West Indies, are here exhibited 

 Unutilized with a series of valuable vegetable oils, potential food 

 Foods flours, edible mushrooms, and unutilized foods of our 



sea-coast, such as whale meat, shark meat, mussels and seaweed. 



Southeast Pavilion 

 INVERTEBRATES 



At the extreme east is the Darwin Hall, devoted chiefly to the 

 invertebrate animals (those which do not possess a backbone) and to 

 groups illustrating biological principles. Facing the entrance is a bronze 

 bust of Darwin by William Couper, presented by the New York 

 Synoptic Academy of Sciences on the occasion of the Darwin 



Series centenary in 1909. Passing around the hall from left to 



right the progression is from the lowest forms of animal life, the one- 

 celled Protozoa, to the highest and most complex forms of animal life, 

 the Primates, including man. The distinctive characteristics of each 

 group are fully described on the alcove and case labels. Many of the 

 minute forms are represented by skilfully prepared models in glass and 

 wax showing the animal many times enlarged. Thus the visitor may 

 obtain an idea of the form and structure of these animals which in spite 

 of their small size have in so many instances such a vital influence on 

 the life of man. 



This alcove contains the lowest forms of animal life. All are single- 

 celled individuals. The simplest kinds are abundant in swamps and 

 Alcove I stagnant water, others are found in myriads in the sea, 



Protozoa while the ocean bottom in many localities is covered 



with them. The exhibits in this alcove are mainly models, some of which 

 represent Protozoa enlarged more than a thousand diameters. 



Sponges are principally of two kinds — those with skeletons or sup- 

 Alcove 2 porting structures of silica (i. e., flint) and those with 

 Sponges skeletons of horny fiber. The sponges of commerce belong 

 to the latter class. In the dry specimens exhibited the skeleton only 

 can be seen, the living tissue having been removed. Many of the 

 "glass" sponges are very beautiful in design. Sponges range in size 

 from the tiny Grantia of the New England coast to the gigantic 

 "Neptune's goblets" found in the eastern seas. This alcove con- 

 tains certain specimens whose tissue is represented in wax tinted 

 to show the natural coloring of sponges, which varies from th 



