166 



NATUBAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



or other group. Our monad is ex- 

 ceedingly like many Infusorian an- 

 imalcules, but it just as closely re- 

 sembles many lower forms of plant 

 life. Nor is this confusing identity 

 of forms with plants, peculiar to 

 lower animals alone. Here is an 

 organism we have just picked up 

 on the sea-beach. It appears to 

 be a piece of pale brown sea-weed, 

 it is almost invariably preserved in 

 herbaria by seaside visitors, who 

 most laudably unite a study of na- 

 ture with the labour of holiday- 

 making. In dredging-expeditions 

 you obtain specimens of the same 

 organism growing rooted to oyster- 

 shells, and to stones, and as you 

 behold it thus attached, you might 

 have little doubt left that you had 

 fished up a marine plant from the 

 sea-depths. But scan the surface 

 of this Flustra or "Sea-mat," as it 

 is called with a pocket-lens, and 

 you will see that it presents a very 

 regular division into cells, which 

 crowd both surfaces of the organ- 

 ism. Or, better still, examine a 

 bit of living Flustra, microscopic- 

 ally, and then all of your ideas of 

 its plant-nature will be ruthlessly 

 dispelled. For you then see that 

 from each cell of this supposed 

 sea- weed comes forth a little crown 

 of tentacles, forming the "head" 

 of a little animal, which, were 

 your anatomical skill more ad- 

 vanced, you might demonstrate as 

 possessing a mouth, stomach, in- 

 testine, and other belongings of the 

 animal world. The Flustra, in 

 short, is a colony of animals, num- 

 bering its population by hundreds, 

 but which nevertheless, grows by 

 budding, and in the strange veris- 

 imilitude of a plant! Nor is the 

 Flustra singular in its mimicry of 

 the vegetable world. On the sea- 

 shore you may pick up dozens of 

 specimens of equally curious ani- 

 mal organisms, collectively known 

 as "zoophytes," and which mimic 

 in the most exact fashion the forms 

 of trees and shrubs. The well 

 known Sertularians or sea firs get 

 their popular name from their re- 

 semblance to fir trees; other spe- 

 cies mimic shrubs and vegetation 

 of more irregular shape, and with 

 spreading branches, deceive the 

 seaside visitor into thinking they 

 are the waste of marine forests. 

 Each zoophyte, again, is simply a 

 colony of animals, of lower rank 

 than the tenants of the Flustra- 

 colony, but, like the latter, grow- 

 ing in the exact likeness and fash- 

 ion of plants. Thus, the assertion 

 that the form of the animal is al- 

 ways characteristic must fail equal- 

 ly with the statement regarding 



the value of the power of motion 

 in distinguishing the animal from 

 the plant. 



But, it might be asked if chem- 

 istry, with its fertility of resource, 

 with delicacy of experiment, and 

 with almost endless analytical 

 powers, is unable to select any 

 substances, the possession of 

 which would form an unfailing 

 characteristic of either group of 

 living beings? To this question a 

 negative answer must be given. 

 Cuvier, the celebrated French nat- 

 uralist, affirmed that the element 

 nitrogen was peculiar to animals; 

 but this statement has, years ago, 

 been proved to be utterly errone- 

 ous, and all other attempts at the 

 purely chemical separation of ani- 

 mals and plants have likewise fail- 

 ed as our knowledge of organic 

 chemistry has progressed. The 

 living substance of animal and 

 plant bodies is seen to be essential- 

 ly identical. It consists of the 

 matter now well known under the 

 name protoplasm; and the farther 

 back we trace the life-history of 

 animals and plants, the more con- 

 fusing in their chemical composit- 

 ion do they become. So that the 

 living substance found within the 

 cells of plants, and of which the 

 bodies of the lowest animals are 

 formed, and that of which the 

 germs of high and low animals are 

 alike composed, is seen to be iden- 

 tical under the strictest examina- 

 tion of the modern chemist. Thus, 

 whatever differences in form, in 

 chemical composition, or in other 

 points, are afterwards evolved, 

 there exists a perfect identity in 

 the young condition of animals 

 and plants, in respect of the com- 

 position of the living matter from 

 which they are formed. 



(to be continued.) 



Natural History at Atlanta. 



The exhibit of the U. S. Nation- 

 al Museum in the government 

 building at Atlanta is intended, in 

 the language of the catalogue, to 

 convey to the mind an impression 

 similar to that received by visiting 

 the Smithsonian buildings in Wash- 

 ington. 



Most of the objects exhibited are 

 from the collections of the U. S. 

 Museum, and are so arranged as 

 to give a good idea of the character 

 of the treasures therein preserved, 

 besides illustrating the methods by 

 which animals are studied, classi- 

 fied, arranged, labeled and display- 

 ed in a great museum. . 



The first department represent- 

 ed is that of mammals. Here the 



various types of mankind are shown 

 either by figures or portraits, the 

 bright costumes of some of the fig- 

 ures being very striking. Twelve 

 of the most characteristic types of 

 the human species are thus shown. 

 Groups of Rocky Mountain sheep, 

 Rocky Mountain goats, prairie 

 wolves, armadillo and American 

 badgers are also exhibited. 



Next in order are the birds, of 

 which six cases are exhibited. Five 

 of the six cases contain groups, by 

 far the most instructive and attract- 

 ive way to show these subjects. 

 First are the bower birds, fitted up 

 with a play-house such as they 

 construct in their native wilds in 

 Australia. The bower is con- 

 structed of long twigs, brought to- 

 gether above and below, forming a 

 cylindrical runway. This is deco- 

 rated with bright feathers, shells, 

 bones, buttons — when they can 

 steal them from the natives — and 

 other subjects. 



The second group represents the 

 lyre bird and its curious dancing 

 mound. The third group is that 

 of the American flamingoes, show- 

 ing the construction of nest and 

 the manner in which the bird sits 

 upon the eggs. This is a very 

 showy group. Next are the long 

 and slender-toed jacanas from 

 Mexico, whose peculiar habit of 

 walking upon the broad-leaved 

 aquatic plants is here illustrated. 



The fifth group, "The Interrupt- 

 ed Dinner," appeals strongly to 

 the mind of every lover of the gun. 

 A red-tailed hawk in the act of 

 feasting upon a recently caught 

 grouse is suddenly set upon by a 

 goshawk, and is mounted with 

 claws in air trying to keep the ma- 

 rauder away. 



The last case of birds contains a 

 fine collection of the birds of para- 

 dise from New Guinea. About 

 thirty kinds of these birds, so re- 

 markable for beauty of plumage, 

 are shown. Some of the speci- 

 mens are very valuable, and the 

 exhibit, though not so large, is 

 well worth going to see. 



The snakes are represented by 

 such well-known friends as dia- 

 mond rattler, banded rattler, prai- 

 rie rattler, copperhead, harlequin 

 snake and water moccasin. The 

 poisonous snakes of the United 

 States thus brought together in a 

 group make an interesting exhibit. 



Next are shown representatives 

 of seventy-two families of Ameri- 

 can fishes. These are preserved 

 in alcohol and exhibited in flat-sur- 

 faced jars. 



Next we come to the department 

 of anatomy, where interesting 



