OF ZOOPHYTES. 
353 
CHAP. XXXIX. 
Of Zoophytes in general — Worms — The Earth Worm — ■ 
The Sea Worm — The White Water Worm — The Star 
F t sii — The Cuttle Fish — The Po r.y pus — Lit uophytes 
— Different Species of Corals — Corallines — Sponges, 8fC. 
We are now come to the last link in the chain of anima- 
ted nature, to a class of beings so confined in their powers, 
and so defective in their formation, that some historians have 
been at a loss whether to consider them as a superior rank of 
vegetables, or the humblest order of the animated tribe. 
In the class of zoophytes, we may place all those animals, 
which may be propagated by cuttings, or, in other words, 
which, if divided into two or more parts, each part in time 
becomes a separate and perfect animal : the head shoots forth 
a tail, and, on the contrary, the tail produces a head; some 
of these will bear dividing but into two parts, such is the 
earth worm; some may be divided into more than two, and 
of this kind are many of the star-fish ; others still may be cut 
into a thousand parts, each becoming a perfect animal ; they 
may be turned inside out, like the finger of a glove, they may 
be moulded into all manner of shapes, yet still their vital 
principle remains, still every single part becomes perfect 
in its kind, and, after a few days’ existence, exhibits all the 
arts and industry of its parent ! We shall therefore divide 
zoophytes according to their several degrees of perfection, 
namely into worms, star-fish, and jvolypi ; contenting our- 
selves with a short review of those creatures, that excite 
our curiosity chiefly by their imperfections. 
The first' in the class of zoophytes, are animals of the 
Worm kind, which, being entirely destitute of feet, trail 
themselves along upon the ground, and find themselves a re- 
treat under the earth, or in the water. As these, like ser- 
pents, have a creeping motion, so both, in general, go under 
the common appellation of reptiles; a loathsome, noxious, 
malignant tribe, to which man by nature has the strongest 
antipathy. But though worms, as well as serpents, are 
mostly without feet, and have been doomed to creep along 
the earth on their bellies, yet their motions are very different. 
The serpent, as has been said before, having a back bone, 
Vo U. II. 2 Y 
