THE LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID THOMAS G. GENTRY, Sc. D. LIFE AND IMMORTALITY; OR, SOUL IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS. -BY- THOMAS O. QENTRY, Sc. E>., AUTHOR OF " LlFE-HlSTORIES OF BlRDS OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA," " THE HOUSE SPARROW," " NESTS AND EGGS OF BIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES," " FAMILY NAMES," ETC., ETC., ETC. " God will never quench His spark divine, Whether within some glorious orb it shine, Or lighten up the spaniel's tender gaze, Who leads his poor blind master through the maze Of this dark world ; and when the task is o'er, Sleeps on his humble grave, to wake no more." A. de Lamartine. PHILADELPHIA: BURK & McFETRIDGE CO. 1897. /\ Copyright, 1897, BY THOMAS G. GENTRY. TO ALL HUMAN BEINGS WHO ARE GOOD AND KIND TO THE HUMBLEST OF GOD'S CREATURES THIS VOLUME IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. "Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. " I know all the fowls of the mountains : and the wild beasts of the field are mine." Psalm 1 : 10, 11. PREFACE. NOTHING is more charming to the mind of man than the study of Nature. Religion, moderation and magnanimity have been made a part of his inner being through her teachings, and the soul has been rescued by her influence from obscurity. No longer doth man grovel in the dust, seeking, animal-like, the gratification of low and base desires, as was his wont, but on the wings of thought is enabled to soar to the very gates of Heaven and hold communion with God. Though made " a little lower than the angels," yet, through the mighty play of forces that have been at work in the world, which we, in the latter half of this enlightened century, are just beginning to recognize and comprehend, he has been lifted from the mire of degra- dation and placed upon a higher social, intellectual, moral and spiritual level. Out of the animal, in the scheme of Deity, the spiritual system of things is to be elaborated, and not the animal out of the spiritual. This natural world, so to speak, is the raw material of the spiritual. Therefore, ere man can understand the spiritual, he must understand the natural. Though his knowledge was at first about material things, or such as pertained to natural phenomena, yet from this through the ages has been builded, little by little, that mountain-height of knowl- edge, intellectual and moral, which, if rightly directed, is to bring him into fellowship with Deity. "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly," or, Lord from heaven. When is considered, therefore, the immense good which the study and investigation of nature have accomplished, it is not at all surprising that the literature on the subject should be markedly in the ascendant. Natural science bids fair to be in a preeminent degree the pursuit of the coming man. There is no end to the books that have been written upon the subject during the past few decades, if not by specialists, but 2 Preface. by men and women who have been well informed and who have made themselves fully capable of contemplating understandingly the world which lies about them. Our libraries are to-day quite affluent in books that aie the handmaids of natural science. Michelet and Hugh Miller, in their day, opened glorious new. worlds before a rising generation, and that generation is now doing excellent work under the inspiration of the impetus which it then received. Tait, Balfour Stewart, Dawson, Gray, McCook, Thompson, Scudder, Mrs. Treat, Olive Thorne Miller and others have done much to continue the interest, pleasure and enthusiasm awakened by those earlier writers, and even Darwin and Huxley themselves, in detailing their experiments, have not scorned to bring their thoughts within the range of narrower minds. But in the popularization of natural science no man has done more than Rev. J. G. Wood in his numerous works. Not only have his writings created in thousands a taste for nature-studies, but they have been no less the means of cultivating the observation, awakening enthusiasm and directing effort in the lines of original research and discovery. Certainly no one, as his many writings so abundantly attest, possessed a larger fund of knowledge concerning the powers and capabilities of the lower animals than this author. Few knew our domestic animals better than he, and none was more capable of judging of the mental and moral status which they should occupy in the world of animals. It is true that men and women, eminent in theology, literature and science, had expressed a belief in the idea that the " latent powers and capacities" of the lower animals might be developed in a future life, but no one had felt secure enough in this belief to warrant more than a passing thought or two upon the subject. Bishop Butler, in his "Analogy of Religion," undoubtedly believed the lower animals capable of a future life. In speaking of them in this connection in the opening of his work, he says : " It is said these observations are equally applicable to brutes ; and it is thought an insuperable difficulty that they should be immortal, and by consequence capable of everlasting happiness. And this manner of expression is both invidious and weak ; but the thing intended by it is really no diffi- culty at all, either in the way of natural or moral consideration." Preface. 3 Referring then to the undeveloped powers and capacities of the so- called brutes, the Bishop could perceive no reason why they should not attain their development in an existence beyond the earth-life. It was in pursuance of this same train of thought that Rev. J. G. Wood was led to show in a work, entitled " Man and Beast Here and Hereafter," that the lower animals do possess those mental and mora*l characteris- tics the attributes of reason, language, memory, moral responsibility, unselfishness and love which we admit in man as belonging to the immortal spirit, rather than to the perishable body. Having previously cleared away the difficulties which certain passages in the Old Testa- ment seemingly interposed, and proved that the Scriptures do not deny futurity of life to lower animals, he very naturally concluded that as man expects to retain these qualities in the future life there is every reason to suppose that they may share his immortality in the Hereafter as in the Now they are partakers of his mortal nature. Few minds, unswayed by thoughts materialistic, can study the living works of God, whether vegetal or animal, and fail to be con- vinced that they, as living exponents of Divine conceptions, are as needful in the world of spirit as in the world of matter. While many are disposed to believe that man will share the future life with beast, bird, insect and such like, yet but few, if any, can be found who believe that tree and shrub and flower will be there to continue the life begun on earth and reach out to higher and fuller development. In announc- ing this belief, the author but expresses a conviction as deep as any that could occupy a human mind. The possession of soul and spirit can be predicated no less of plants than of man and the lower animals. They have all one breath or life and one spirit, and as such are living souls, living, breathing frames or bodies of life. From being living, breathing frames, and endowed with the same life and spirit as man and the lower animals, they have all one destiny, for " all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." 'But of the new life which Christ came down to earth to proffer to man that he might inherit the kingdom of God. While to man it was only offered, and had for its purpose the uplifting and improvement of his earth-life by the promise of something higher and better to those who are accounted worthy, yet there can be no doubt that it was equally intended through 4 Preface. his uplifting to place all the creatures of the earth over which he was given dominion by God upon a more elevated and nobler plane, so that those which had been profited in the earth-life by his beneficent influence should become partakers with him in the new life, when Christ shall " transfigure the body of our humiliation, that it may become of like form, with the body of His glory, bv the power of that which enables Him even to subdue all things to Himself." As all existence is a unit, which the author has taken especial pains through the body of this book to impress upon the minds of his readers, it can hardly be conceived that an all-wise God, who is infinite in love, mercy and justice, would look to the preservation in a future state of but a very small part of the life which He has been instrumental in placing upon this earth. It would be more consistent with His attri- butes, and with the scheme of development of life upon our planet, whereby life has been progressive, the fittest only being allowed to survive, to have provided in the grand plan of redemption, not merely the salvation of the highest of earth-life, but of all life, the purest and the best, that would represent in the heaven-life, in spiritualized form, the highest living exponents of Divine ideas. No other belief accords so well with the teachings of science and philosophy. In its accept- ance, for it makes all life related to the Divine life, can there be any hope of escape from materialism, that curse of the age. THOMAS G. GENTRY, Sc. D. PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 28, 1897. CONTENTS. Preface l Life and Its Conditions 9 Plants that Feed on Insects 1 6 Slime-Animals 3 2 Primitive Lasso-Throwers 36 Five-Fingered Jack on the Oyster 4 i Earth-worms in History 48 Fiddler- and Hermit-Crabs 7 Funnel- Web Builder 77 Book-Lovers 86 You ee-up 90 Tower-Building Cicada. 95 Honey-Dew 104 Milch-Cows of the Ants 1 08 Living Artillery 1 1 1 Bright and Shining Ones 1 1 5 Queen of American Silk-Spinners 121 Basket-Carriers 126 Honey-Producing Caterpillars 132 Hibernating Butterflies 144 Leaf-Cutter Bee 149 Battle Between Ants 153 Nest-Building Fishes 158 Slippery as an Eel 168 Rana and Bufo 1 74 Our Natural Enemies 1 86 House-Bearing Reptiles 198 Summer Duck 204 American Woodcock 210 Piping Plover 218 Bob White 222 Ruffed Grouse 230 An Old Acquaintance 240 American Osprey 245 6 Contents, PAGE Turkey Buzzard 252 Rare and Curious Nests 263 Strange Friendship 279 Nature's Little Store-Keeper 285 Canine Sagacity 290 Feline Intelligence 295 Bright Little Cebidae 301 Untutored Man 309 Living Souls 316 Consciousness in Plants 323 Mind in Animals 344 Life Progressive 404 Survival of the Fittest 426 Man's Preeminence 469 Future Life 479 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Portrait of Author Frontispiece Venus's Fly-trap 20 Round-Leaved Sundew 25 Protomyxa Feeding 34 Fresh-Water Hydra 37 Star-fish Opening an Oyster 45 Common Earth-worms . 60 Fiddler-Crabs 72 Warty Hermit-Crabs 75 Agalena and Her Funnel-Web 79 Lepismas at Work 88 You-ee-up in His Den 91 Seventeen-year Cicada 97 New-born Cicada 99 Dome-like House of Cicada 101 Blossom of Cucurbita 105 Nest of Lasius 1 09 Brachinus Pursued by an Enemy. 112 Common Tiger Beetle 117 American Luna Moth 123 House-builder Moth 1 29 Pseudargiolus Butterfly 1 34 Violacea Butterfly 138 Neglecta Butterfly 142 Mourning-Cloak Butterfly 146 Leaf-Cutter Bee at Work 1 50 Battle Between Ants 1 54 Nest of Common Sun-fish 1 59 Black-nosed Dace 163 Common American Eel 172 Rana Clamata, or Green Frog 177 Common American Toad 181 Northern Rattlesnake 189 Mother Black Snake 192 S List of Illustrations. PAGE Summer Green Snake 195 Water Snake 196 Common Box Tortoise 201 Summer Ducks and Young 206 American Woodcock 214 Female Piping Plover 220 Home of Bob White 225 Ruffed Grouse in Spring-time 235 Mexican Wild Turkey 241 Nest of American Osprey 247 Female Turkey Buzzard Dining 259 Nest of the Robin 264 Red-winged Blackbird's Nest 266 Double Nest of Orchard Oriole 268 Female Baltimore Oriole 270 Acadian Flycatchers 272 Long-billed Marsh Wrens 274 Golden-Crowned Kinglets 275 Lace Hammock of Parula Warbler 276 Three-story Nest of Yellow Warbler 278 Saw-whet Owl and Chickaree Squirrel 282 Hackee, or Chipping Squirrel 287 My Dog Frisky 292 Tom on Duty 297 Jack at Dinner 305 Australian at Home 311 Representative Life of Western Asia 319 Seedling of Winter Grape 325 Tip of Radicle of Seedling Maple 33 r Wonderful Equine Intelligence 347 Papier-Mache Palace of the Hornet 353 Unsolicited and Unlooked-for Kindness 357 Exhibition of Grandeur 378 Four Orphaned Robins 389 Mated for Life 396 Evidence of Conjugal Affection 400 Life in the Primordial Sea ". 410 Carboniferous Times 412 Mesozoic Flora and Fauna 415 Palaeolithic Men Attacking Cave Bear 448 Zra of Mind and Heart 462 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. ItlfE flflD ITS CONDITIONS. ALL natural objects, roughly divided, arrange themselves into three groups, constituting the so-called Mineral, Vegetable and Animal kingdoms. Mineral bodies are all devoid of life. They consist of either a single element, or, if combined, occur in nature in the form of simple compounds, composed of more than two or three elements. They are homogeneous in texture, or, when unmixed, formed of similar particles which have no definite relations to one another. In form they are either altogether indefinite, when they are said to be amorphous, or have a definite shape, called crystalline, in which case they are ordinarily bounded by plane surfaces and straight lines. When mineral bodies increase in size, as crystals may do, the increase is produced simply by accretion. They exhibit purely physical and chemical phenomena, and show no tendency to periodic changes of any kind. Fossils or petrifactions, which owe their existence and characters to beings which lived in former periods of the earth's history, cannot, though made up of mineral matter, be properly said to belong to the mineral kingdom. But objects belonging to the vegetable and animal king- doms differ markedly from inert, lifeless, mineral matter. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen are the most important of the few chemical elements which enter into IO Life and Immortality. their composition, and these elements are combined into complex organic compounds, which always contain a large percentage of water, are very unstable, and prone to spon- taneous decomposition. They are composed of hetero- geneous, but related, parts, termed organs, the objects possessing them being called organized bodies. Some of the lowest forms of animals have bodies whose substance is so uniform that they exhibit no definite organs, but this exception does not affect the general value of this distinc- tion. They are always more or less definite in shape, presenting concave and convex surfaces, and being limited by curved lines. When they increase in size, or grow, as we properly term it, it is not by the addition of particles from the outside, but by the reception of foreign matter into their interior and its consequent assimilation. Certain periodic changes, which follow a definite and discoverable order, are invariably passed through by organized bodies. These changes constitute what is known as life. All the objects, then, which fulfil these conditions are said to be alive, and they all appertain either to the vegetable or the animal kingdom. The study of living objects, no matter to which kingdom they belong, is therefore conveniently called by the general name of Biology, which means a discourse on life. And as all living objects may be referred to one or other of these kingdoms, so Biology may be divided into Botany, which treats of plants, and Zoology, which treats of animals. Now that we have divided all organized bodies into plants and animals, it becomes necessary to inquire into the differ- ences which subsist between them, and which will enable us to separate the kindred sciences of Botany and Zoology. Nothing was thought so easy by older observers than the determination of the animal or vegetable nature of any given organism, but,. in point of fact, no hard-and-fast line can be drawn, in the existing state of our knowledge, between the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and it is sometimes difficult, Life and Its Conditions. 1 1 or even impossible, to decide with positiveness whether we are dealing with a plant or an animal. In the higher orders of the two kingdoms there is no difficulty in reaching a decision, the higher animals being readily separated from the higher plants by the possession of a nervous system, of a locomotive power which can be voluntarily exercised, and of an internal cavity adapted for the reception and digestion of solid food. No so-called nervous system or organs of sense are possessed by the higher plants, although some of them doubtlessly manifest conscious and intelligent action, nor are they capable of voluntary changes of place, nor provided with any definite internal cavity, their food being generally fluid or gaseous. Descending the scale to the very bottom, we reach a class of animals, the Protozoa, which cannot be separated in many cases from the Protophyta by these distinctions, since many of the former have no digestive cavity, nor the slightest trace of a nervous system, while many of the latter possess the power of active locomotion. As to external configuration, no certain rules can be laid down for separating animals and plants, many of the lower plants, either in their earlier stages, or in their maturity, being exactly similar in form to some of the lower animals. This is the case with some of the Algae, which resemble very closely in form certain Infusorian ani- malcules. Again, many undoubted animals, which are rooted to solid objects in their adult state, are so plant-like in appearance as to be popularly regarded as vegetables. The Sea-firs, and the more highly organized Flustras or Sea- mats, which are usually considered as sea-weeds by sea-side visitors, are a few of many examples that might be taken from the so-called Hydroid Zoophytes. No decided distinc- tion between animals and plants can be drawn as to their minute internal structure, both alike consisting of molecules, of cells, or of fibres. Some decided, though not universal, differences exist in chemical composition. Plants exhibit a decided predominance of ternary compounds, or compounds 1 2 L>fe and Immortality. which, like sugar, starch and cellulose, are made up of the three elements, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, but are, com- paratively speaking, poorly supplied with quaternary compounds, or those which contain an additional element of nitrogen. Animals, on the contrary, are rich in quaternary nitrogenized compounds, such as albumen or fibrin. Still, in both kingdoms we find nitrogenized and non-nitrogen- ized compounds, and it is only in the proportion which these sustain to each other in the organism that animals differ in any way from plants. Before the invention of the microscope, no independent voluntary movements, if we except the opening and closure of flowers, and their turning towards the sun, the drooping of the leaves of sensitive plants under irritation, and some other kindred phenomena, were known in plants. Now, how- ever, we know of many plants which are endowed, either when young or throughout life, with the power of effecting voluntary movements apparently as spontaneous and inde- pendent as those performed by the lower animals, the move- ments being brought about by means of little vibrating cilia, or hairs, with which a part or the whole of the surface is furnished. When it is added that many animals are perma- nently rooted, in their fully-grown condition, to solid objects, it will at once be apparent that no absolute distinction can be made between animals and plants merely because of the presence or absence of independent locomotive power. There is, however, a test, the most reliable of all that have been discovered, by which an animal may be distinguished from a plant, and that is the nature of the food and the prod- ucts which are elaborated therefrom in the body. Plants live upon such inorganic substances as water, carbonic acid and ammonia, and they have the power of manufacturing out of these true organic materials, and are therefore the great producers of nature. All plants which contain green coloring matter, technically called chlorophyll, break up carbonic acid in the process of digestion into its two Life and Its Conditions. \ 3 constituents of carbon and oxygen, retaining the former and setting the latter free. And as the atmosphere always con- tains carbonic acid in small quantities, the result is that plants remove carbonic acid therefrom and give out oxygen. Animals, on the other hand, have no power of living on water, carbonic acid and ammonia, nor of converting these into the complex organic substances of their bodies. That their existence may be maintained animals require to be supplied with ready-made organic compounds, and for these they are all dependent upon plants, either directly or indi- rectly. In requiring as food complex organic bodies, which they ultimately reduce to very simply inorganic ones, animals are thus found to differ from plants. Whilst plants are the great manufacturers in nature, animals are the great consumers. Another distinction, arising from the nature of their food, is that animals absorb oxygen and throw out carbonic acid, their reaction upon the atmosphere being exactly the reverse of that of plants. There are organisms, it must be understood, which are genuine plants so far as their nutritive processes are concerned, but which, neverthe- less, are in the possession of characters which could locate them among the animals. Volvox, so abundant in our streams during the proper seasons, affords a splendid illus- tration of the truth of this statement. Plants, which are devoid of chlorophyll, as is the case with the Fungi, do not possess the power of decomposing carbonic acid under the influence of sunlight, but are like animals in requiring organic compounds for their food. Two points must there- fore be borne in mind in regarding the general distinctions between plants and animals which we have thus briefly out- lined, and these are that they cannot often be applied in practice to ambiguous microscopic organisms, and certainly not to plant-forms that are destitute of chlorophyll. That life should manifest itself certain conditions are essen- tial, but some of which, though generally present, are not absolutely indispensable. One condition, however, seems to 14 Life and Immortality. be very necessary, and that is that the living body should be composed of a certain material. This material, which forms the essential and fundamental parts of everything living, whether vegetable or animal, is technically called proto- plasm. Other substances than it are often found in living bodies, but it is in protoplasm only that vitality appears to be inherent. But whether it is the same in plants as in animals is a matter of opinion. One thing, however, seems reasonably certain, and that is that it is the medium or vehicle through which vital force is made manifest. Used in its general sense, protoplasm is chemically related in its nature to albumen, and generally has the character of a jelly-like, semi-fluid, transparent material, which, in itself, exhibits no definiteness of structure. When heated to a certain temperature it coagulates, just as the white of an egg does when boiled. Living protoplasm has the power of movement, of increasing in size or of maintaining its exist- ence by the assimilation of fresh and foreign materials, and of detaching portions of itself which may subsequently develop into fresh masses. Though protoplasm be present in the ova of animals and the seeds of plants, yet there is no external and visible manifestation of life. There is in them what is called a dormant vitality, which may remain for a long time unchanged, until altered external circumstances cause the organism to pass into a state of active life. Generally, certain external conditions must be present before any external vital phenomena can be manifested. The presence of atmospheric air, or rather of free oxygen, is in an ordinary way essential to active life. Life, that is its higher manifestations, is only possible between certain ranges of temperature, varying from near the freezing point to about 120 Fahrenheit. As water is a necessary constituent of protoplasm in its living state, so it becomes an absolutely essential requisite to the carrying on of vital processes of all kinds, for the mere drying of an animal or Life and Its Conditions. 1 5 plant will, in most cases, kill it outright, and will always bring about a suspension of all visible life-phenomena. While the large majority of living beings are organized, or composed of different parts, called organs, which sustain certain relations with one another, and which discharge different offices, yet it must not therefore be concluded that organization is a necessary accompaniment of vitality, or that all living creatures are organized. Innumerous low forms of life, so low that they occupy the very lowest place in the scale of animated existences, absolutely exhibit no visible structure, and cannot, therefore, be said to be organ- ized, but they, nevertheless, discharge all their vital functions just as well as though they possessed special organs for the purpose. Concluding our theme, we are forced to admit that animals are organized, or possess structure, because they are alive, and not that they live because they are organ- ized. By carefully comparing the morphological and physi- ological differences between different animals and plants, naturalists have divided the entire animal and vegetable kingdoms into a number of divisions, whose leading char- acteristics may be found in almost every text-book. All that we promised ourselves when this work was first thought of was a brief treatment of a few of the most interesting life-forms of this planet of ours in the light of their ways and doings, and the direction of human thought to those traits of character and manifestations of conscious intelli- gence which fit them to become partakers with man of that new life which awaits him beyond the grave. PMJlTS THRT FEED OK IflSECTS. PERHAPS it would be difficult to find in the whole range of vegetable creation anything more curious than the carnivorous or flesh-eating plants. That animals eat plants creates in us no emotion of curiosity, for this is the common law of nature. But that plants should devour animals is a marvel to which few minds uninitiated in science would give credence. Though these strange forms of vege- table life have been known for about a century, yet it has been but a few years since the attention of naturalists was first specially called to their habits and character. No one has probably done more to explain the life and operations of the flesh-eating plants than Mr. Darwin. For centuries strange rumors had been circulated of the existence of huge plants in the more remote and unvisited parts of Asia which would imprison and destroy large ani- mals and men that would venture within reach of their great quivering leaves armed with hooked spines, the flesh of the dead victim being absorbed into their structure, but all these giant flesh-eating trees or plants have so far proved to be mere myths. Science has discovered, however, that there is some foundation for these exciting fictions, and it has not been obliged to go to the distant East to find it, for flesh- eating plants are by no means uncommon in this country and Europe. But these plants confine their destructive pro- pensities to the crawling and flying insects which are beguiled by some tempting reward to rest on their leaves. Such a strange provision of nature is no less interesting than if these plants had the power to destroy the larger animals, for it is Plants That Feed on Insects. 17 the fact itself which startles the attention by its seeming reversal of natural laws. No better example of carnivorous plants could be taken than Dioncza muscipula, or to use the common name, Venus's Fly-trap. It is a species that is indigenous to North Carolina and the adjacent parts of South Carolina, affecting sandy bogs in the pine forests from April to June, and a represen- tative of the Droseracecz, or Sundew Family. One cannot fail after once seeing it of becoming impressed with its peculiar characteristics. It is a smooth perennial herb with tufted radical leaves on broadly-winged, spatulate stems, the limb orbicular, notched at both ends, and fringed on the margins with strong bristles. From the centre of the rosette of leaves proceeds at the proper time a scape or leafless stalk which terminates in an umbel-like cyme of from eight to ten white bracted flowers, each flower being one inch in diameter. The roots are small and consist of two branches each an inch in length springing from a bulbous enlarge- ment. Like an epiphytic orchid, these plants can be grown in well-drained damp moss without any soil, thus showing that the roots probably serve for the absorption of water solely. Three minute pointed processes or filaments, placed triangularly, project from the upper surface of each lobe of the bi-lobed leaf, although cases are observed where four and even ten filaments are found. These filaments are remark- able for their extreme sensitiveness to touch, as shown not only by their own movement, but by that of the lobes also. Sharp, rigid projections, diminutive spikes as it were, stand out from the leaf-margins, each of which being entered by a bundle of spiral vessels. They are so arranged that when the lobes close they interlock like the teeth of an old- fashioned rat-trap. That considerable strength may be had, the mid-rib of the leaf, on the lower side, is quite largely developed. Minute glands, of a reddish or purplish color, thickly cover the upper surface of the leaf, excepting towards the margins, 1 8 Life and Immortality. the rest of the leaf being green. No glands are found upon the spikes or upon the foliaceous footstalk. From twenty to thirty polygonal cells, filled with purple fluid, constitute each gland. They are convex above, somewhat flattened underneath, and stand on very short pedicels, into which spiral vessels do not enter. They have the power of secre- tion under certain influences, and also that of absorption. Minute octofid projections, of a reddish-brown color, are scattered in considerable numbers over the footstalk, the backs of the leaves and the spikes, with a few on the upper surfaces of the lobes. The sensitive filaments, which are a little more than one- twentieth of an inch in length, and thin, delicate and taper- ing to a point, are formed of several rows of elongated cells, filled with a purplish fluid. They are sometimes bifid or even trifid at the apex, and towards the base there is a con- striction formed of broader cells, and beneath the constric- tion an articulation, supported on an enlarged base, consist- ing of differently shaped polygonal cells. As the filaments project at right angles to the surface of the leaf, they would have been in danger of being broken off whenever the lobes closed together had it not been for the articulation, which allows them to bend flat down. So exquisitely sensitive are these filaments, from their tips to their bases, to a momentary touch, that it is hardly possible to touch them even so lightly or quickly with any hard object without causing the lobes to close, but a piece of delicate human hair, two and a-half inches in length, held dangling over a filament so as to touch it, or pinches of fine wheaten flour, dropped from a height, produce no effect. Though not glandular, and hence inca- pable of secretion, yet the filaments by their sensitiveness to a momentary touch, which is followed by the rapid closure of the lobes of the leaf, assure to Dionaea the necessary supply of insect food for all its wants. Inorganic bodies, even of large size, such as bits of stone, glass and such like, or organic bodies not containing Plants That Feed on Insects. 19 nitrogeneous matter in a soluble condition, as bits of cork, wood, moss for examples, or bodies containing soluble nitro- geneous matter, if perfectly dry, such as small pieces of meat, albumen, gelatine, etc., may be long left on the lobes, and no movement is excited. But when nitrogeneous organic bodies, which are all damp, are left on the lobes, the result is widely different, for these then close by a slow and gradual move- ment and not in a rapid*manner as when one of the sensitive filaments is touched by a hard substance. Small purplish, almost sessile glands, as has already been stated, thickly cover the upper surface of the lobes. These have the power both of secretion and absorption, but they do not secrete until excited by the absorption of nitrogeneous matter. No other excitement, as far as experiments show, produces this effect. When the lobes are made to close over a bit of meat or an insect, the glands over the entire surface of the leaf emit a copious discharge, as in this case the glands on both sides are pressed against the meat or insect, the secretion being twice as great as when the one or the other is laid on the surface of a single lobe ; and as the two lobes come into almost close contact the secretion, containing dissolved ani- mal matter, diffuses itself by capillary attraction, causing fresh glands on both sides to begin secreting in a continually widening circle. The secretion is almost colorless, slightly mucilaginous, moderately acid, and so copious at times in the furrow over the mid-rib as to trickle down to the earth. But all this secretion is for the purposes of digestion. Be the animal matter which the enclosed object yields ever so little, it serves as a peptogene, and the glands on the surface of the leaf pour forth their acid discharge, which acts like the gastric juice of animals. Now as to the manner in which insects are caught by the leaves of Dioncea muscipula. In its native country they are caught in large numbers, but whether they are attracted in any special way no one seems to know. Both lobes close with astonishing quickness as soon as a filament is touched, 20 Life and Immortality. VENUS'S FLY-TRAP. How It Captures Insects. and as they stand at less than a right angle to each other, they have an excellent chance of capturing any intruder. The chief seat of the movement is near the mid-rib, but is not restricted to this part. Each lobe, when the lobes come together, curves inwards across its whole breadth, the margi- nal spikes alone not becoming curved. From the curving inwards of the two lobes, as they advance towards each other, the straight marginal spikes intercross by their apices at first, and ultimately by their bases. The leaf is then completely shut and encloses a shallow cavity. If made to shut merely by the touching of one of the sensitive fila- ments, or by the inclusion of an object not yielding soluble Plants That Feed on Insects. 2 1 nitrogeneous matter, the two lobes retain their inwardly con- cave form until they re-expand. The re-expansion, when no organic matter is enclosed, varies according to circumstances, a leaf in one instance being fully re-expanded in thirty-two hours. But the lobes, when soluble nitrogeneous matter is included, instead of remaining concave, thus containing within a con- cavity, slowly press closely together throughout their entire breadth, and as this takes place the margins gradually become a little everted, so that the spikes, which at first intercrossed, at last project in two parallel rows. So firmly do they become pressed together that, if any large insect has been caught, a corresponding projection is clearly visible on the outside of the leaf. When the two lobes are thus completely closed, they resist being opened, as by a thin wedge driven with astonishing force between them, and are generally ruptured rather than yield. If not ruptured, they close again with quite a loud flap. The slow movement spoken of, excited by the absorption of diffused animal matter, suffices for its final purpose, whilst the movement brought on by the touch- ing of one of the sensitive filaments is rapid, and thus indis- pensable for the capturing of insects. Leaves remain shut for a longer time over insects, especially if the latter are large, than over meat. In many instances where they have remained for a long period over insects naturally caught, they were more or less torpid when they reopened, and generally so much so during many succeeding days that no excitement of the filaments caused the least movement. Vigorous leaves will sometimes devour prey several times, but ordinarily twice, or, quite often, once is enough to render them unserviceable. What purpose the marginal spikes, which form so conspicu- ous a feature in the appearance of the plant, subserve was unknown until the genius of Darwin solved the mystery. It was he that showed that elongated spaces between the spikes, varying from one-fifteenth to one-tenth of an inch in breadth 22 Life and Immortality. according to the size of the leaf, are left open for a short time before the edges of the lobes come into contact, consequent upon the intercrossing of the tips of the mar- ginal spikes first, thus enabling an insect whose body is not thicker than these measurements to escape, when disturbed by the closing lobes and the increasing darkness, quite easily between the crossed spikes. Moderately sized insects, if they try to escape between the bars, will be pushed back into the horrid prison with the slowly closing walls, for the spikes continue to close more and more until the lobes are brought into contact. Very strong insects, however, manage to effect their release. It would manifestly be a great disadvantage to the plant to remain many days clasped over a minute insect, and as many additional days or weeks in recovering its sensibility, inasmuch as a very small insect would afford but little nourishment. Far better would it be for the plant to wait until a moderately large insect was captured, and to allow the little ones to escape, and this advantage is gained by the slow intercrossing of the marginal spikes, which, acting like the large meshes of a fishing-net, allow the small and worthless fry to pass through. Touching any one of the six filaments is sufficient to cause both lobes to close, these becoming at the instant incurved throughout their entire breadth. The stimulus must therefore radiate in all directions from any one fila- ment, and it must also be transmitted with considerable rapidity across the leaf, for in all ordinary cases, as far as the eye can judge, both lobes close at the same time. Physiolo- gists generally believe that in irritable plants the excitement is transmitted along, or in close connection with, the fibro- vascular bundles. Those in Dionaea seem at first sight to favor this belief, for they run up the mid- rib in a great bun- dle, sending off small bundles almost at right angles on each side, which bifurcate occasionally as they stretch towards the margin, the marginal branches from adjoining branches uniting and entering the marginal spikes. Thus a continuous Plants That Feed on Insects. 23 zigzag line of vessels runs round the whole circumference of the leaf, while in the mid-rib all the vessels are in close contiguity, so that all parts of the leaf seem to be brought into some degree of communication. The presence of vessels, however, is not necessary for the transmission of the motor impulse, for it is transmitted from the apices of the sensitive filaments, which are hardly one-tenth of an inch in length, into which no vessels are seen to enter. Slits made close to the bases of the filaments, parallel to the mid- rib, and thus directly across the course of the vessels, some- times on the inner and sometimes on the outer sides of the filaments, do not interfere with the transmission of the motor impulse along the vessels, and conclusively show that there is no necessity for a direct line of communication from the filament, which is touched towards the mid-rib and opposite lobe, or towards the outer parts of the same lobe. With respect to the movement of the leaves, the wonderful discov- ery made by Dr. Burdon Sanderson, and published in 1874, offers an easy explanation. There is, says this distinguished authority, a normal electrical current in the blade and foot- stalk, which, when the leaves are irritated, is disturbed in the same manner as is the muscle of an animal when contraction takes place. After contraction has endured for a greater or less time, dependent upon circumstances which we do not well under- stand, re-expansion of the leaves is effected at an insensibly slow rate, whether or not any object is enclosed, both lobes opening in all ordinary cases at the same time, although each lobe may act to a certain extent independently of the other. The re-expansion is not determined by the sensitive filaments, for these may be cut off close to their bases, or be entirely removed, and re-expansion occur in the usual manner. It is believed that the several layers of cells form- ing the lower surface of the leaf are always in a state of tension, and that it is owing to this mechanical state, aided probably by fresh fluid being drawn into the cells, that the 24 Life and Immortality. lobes begin to separate as soon as the contraction of the upper surface diminishes. Six known genera, Drosophyllum, Roridula, Byblis, Drosera, Dionaea and Aldrovanda comprise the Droseraceae, all of which capture insects. The first three genera effect this purpose solely by the viscid fluid secreted from their glands, and the last, like Dionaea, which has already been described, through the closing of the blades of the leaf. In these last two genera rapid movement makes up for the loss of viscid secretion. But of all the genera none is more interesting than the typical Sundews. Growing in poor peaty soil, and sometimes along the borders of ponds where nothing else can grow, certain low herbaceous plants, called Droseras, abound. So small and apparently insignificant are they, that to the ordinary observer they are almost unnoticed. But they have peculiarities of structure and nature that readily distinguish them. Scattered thickly over their leaves are reddish bristles or tentacles, each surmounted by a gland, from which an extremely viscid fluid, sparkling in the sunlight like dew, exudes in transparent drops. Hence the common name of Sundew by which the half-dozen species found in the United States east of the Mississippi River are known. A one-sided raceme, whose flowers open only when the sun shines, crowns a smooth scape, which is devoid of tentacles. Drosera rotundifolia, our commonest species, has a wide range, being indigenous to both Europe and America. In the United States it extends from New England to Florida and westward, and is occa- sionally associated with Drosera longifolia, a form with long strap-shaped leaves, but whose distribution is mostly restricted to maritime regions, from Massachusetts to Florida. All of the species are remarkably similar in habits, captur- ing insects, and digesting and absorbing the soft parts, a circumstance which explains how these plants can flourish in an extremely poor soil where mosses, which depend almost entirely upon the atmosphere for their nourishment,. Plants That Feed on Insects. 25 only can live. Although the leaves of the Droseras at a hasty glance do not appear green, owing to the purple color of the tentacles, yet the superior and inferior surfaces of the blade, the stalks of the central tentacles, and the petioles contain chlorophyll, rendering the best of evidence that the plants obtain and assimilate carbon dioxide from the air. But when the poverty of the soil where these plants grow is considered, it is at once apparent that their supply of nitrogen would be exceedingly small, or quite deficient, unless they had the power of obtaining it from some other source. From captured insects this important element is largely obtained, and thus we are prepared to understand how it is that their roots, which consist of only two or three slightly divided branches, from one-half to one inch in length, and furnished ROUND-LEAVED SUNDEW. Leaves Acting as Stomachs. 26 Life and Immortality. with absorbent hairs, are so poorly developed. From what has been stated it would seem that the roots but serve to imbibe water, but there is no doubt that nutritious matters would also be absorbed were they present in the soil. With the edges of its leaves curled so as to form a tempo- rary stomach, and with the glands of its closely-inflected ten- tacles pouring forth their truly acid secretion, which dissolves animal matters that are subsequently absorbed, Drosera may be said to feed like an animal. But, unlike an animal, it drinks by means of its roots, and largely, too, for it would not be able to supply its glands with the necessary viscid fluid. The amount needed is by no means an inconsiderable quantity, as two hundred and seventy drops may sometimes be exposed during a whole day to a glaring sun. Such a profuse exudation implies preparations for hosts of insect visitors. In this Drosera has not miscalculated. Its bright pink blossoms and brilliant, glistening dew lure vast numbers of the smaller kinds, and the larger ones, too, to certain death. But the wholesale destruction of life that goes on is much in excess of what the plant requires for food. While the smaller flies remain adherent to the leaves, affording them the needed aliment, the larger insects, after death, fall around the roots, where they decay and fertilize the soil with nitrogen, which doubtless through the proper channels makes its way into the body of the plant, thus helping to give it tone and vigor. There are times when these plants work better than at others, but whether this is caused by the elec- trical condition of the atmosphere, or the amount of its contained moisture, is a question which science has not positively determined. Drosera longifolia folds it leaves entirely around its victim, from the apex down to the petiole after the manner of its vernation, but in Drosera rotundifolia, whose marginal tentacles are longer, the tentacles simply curve around the object, the glands touching the substance, like so many mouths receiving nourishment. Experimented upon with Plants That Feed on Insects. 27 raw beef, the tentacles of healthy leaves, from within to without, but in periods of time varying from six to eight or nine hours, clasp firmly the beef, almost concealing it from view. Equally vigorous leaves, however, made no move towards clasping a bit of dry chalk, a chip of flint, or a lump of earth. Bits of raw apple cause a curving of the tentacles, but very few of the glands are seen touching them. It would seem, therefore, that these plants are really carniv- orous, preferring animal substances, which they, by the aid of some ferment analogous to pepsin, which is secreted by the glands, are able to absorb. A minute quantity of already soluble animal matter is the exciting cause, and this must be taken in by the glands, or there is no secretion of the fermenting material. In all ordinary cases the glands alone are susceptible to excitement. When excited, they do not themselves move or change form, but transmit a motor impulse to the bend- ing part of their own and adjoining tentacles, and are thus carried towards the centre of the leaf. Stimulants applied to the glands of the short tentacles on the disc indirectly excite movement of the exterior tentacles, for the stimulus of the glands of the disc acts on the bending part of the latter tentacles, near their bases, and does not first travel up the pedicels to the glands, to be then reflected back to the bending place. Some influence, however, does travel up to the glands, causing them to secrete most copiously, and the secretion to become acid, just such an influence as that which in animals is transmitted along the nerves to glands, modifying their power of secretion, independently of the condition of the blood-vessels. Over organic substances that yield soluble matter the tentacles remain clasped for a much longer time than over those not acted upon by the secretion, or over inorganic objects. That they have the power of rendering organic substances soluble, that is, that they have the power of digestion, is no longer a question of dispute. They certainly have this power, acting on 28 Life and Immortality. albuminous compounds in exactly the same manner as does the gastric juice of mammals, the digested matter being afterwards absorbed. In animals the digestion of albumin- ous compounds is effected by means of a ferment, pepsin, together with weak hydrochloric acid, though almost any acid will serve, yet neither pepsin nor an acid by itself has any such power. It has been observed that when the glands of the disc are excited by the contact of any object, espe- cially of one containing nitrogeneous matter, the outer tentacles and often the blade become inflected, the leaf thereby becoming converted into a temporary cup or stomach. The discal glands then secrete more copiously, the secre- tion becoming acid, and, moreover, some influence being transmitted by them to the glands of the exterior tentacles, causing them to emit a more abundant secretion, which also becomes acid. This secretion is to a certain extent antisep- tic, as it checks the appearance of mould and infusoria, and in this particular acts like the gastric juice of the higher animals, which is known to arrest putrefaction by destroying the microzymes. With animals, according to Schiff, mechanical irritation excites the glands of the stomach to secrete an acid, but not pepsin. There is strong reason to believe, too, that the glands of Drosera, which are continually secreting viscid fluid to replace the losses by evaporation, do not secrete the ferment proper for digestion when mechanically irritated, but only after absorbing certain matters of a nitrogeneous nature. The glands of the stomachs of animals secrete pepsin only after they have absorbed certain soluble substances designated peptogenes, showing a remarkable parallelism between the glands of Drosera and those of the stomach in the secretion of their appropriate acid and ferment. Not only animal matter, but also the albumen of living seeds, which are injured or killed by the secretion, are acted upon by the glands of Drosera. Matter is likewise absorbed from pollen, and from fresh leaves. The stomachs of Plants That Feed on Insects. 29 vegetable-feeding animals, as is only too well known, possess a similar power of extracting nourishment from such articles. Though properly an insectivorous plant, but as pollen, as well as the seeds and leaves of surrounding plants, cannot fail to be often or occasionally blown upon the glands of Drosera, yet it must be credited with being to a certain extent a vege- table feeder. That a plant and an animal should secrete the same, or nearly the same, complex digestive fluid, adapted for a simi- lar purpose, is a wonderful fact in physiology, but not more remarkable than the movements of a tentacle consequent upon an impulse received from its own gland, the movement at the bending place of the tentacle being always towards the centre of the leaf, and so it is with all the tentacles when their glands are excited by immersion in a suitable fluid. The short tentacles in the middle part of the disc, however, must be excepted, as these do not bend at all when thus excited. But when the motor impulse comes from one side of the disc, the surrounding tentacles, and even the short ones in the middle of the disc, all bend with precision towards the point of excitement, no matter where it may be located. This is in every way a remarkable phenomenon, for the leaf appears as if endowed with animal sense and intelligence. It is all the more remarkable when the motor impulse strikes the base of a tentacle obliquely to its flat- tened surface, for then the contraction of the cells must be restricted to one, two or a very few rows at one end, and different sides of the surrounding tentacles must be acted on that all may bend with precision to the point of excitement. The motor impulse, as it spreads from one or more glands across the disc, enters the bases of the surrounding tentacles, and instantly acts on the bending place, but does not first proceed up the tentacles to the glands, causing them to reflect back an impulse to their bases, although some influ- ence is sent up to the glands, whereby their secretion is soon increased and rendered acid. The glands, being thus 30 Life and Immortality. excited, send back some other influence, dependent neither on increased secretion nor on the inflection of the tentacles, which causes the protoplasm to aggregate in cell beneath cell. This maybe called a reflex action. How it differs from that which proceeds from the nerve-ganglion of an animal, if it differ at all, no one can say. It is probably the only known case of reflex action in the vegetable kingdom. Concerning the mechanism of the movements and the character of the motor impulse little is known. During the act of inflection fluid surely passes from one part to another of the tentacles. In explanation of the fact it is claimed that the motor impulse is allied in nature to the aggregat- ing process, and that this causes the molecules of the cell- walls to approach each other, as do the molecules of the protoplasm within the cells, thereby causing the cells in all to contract. This is probably the hypothesis that best accords with the observed facts, although some strong objections may be urged against this view. The elasticity of their outer cells, which comes into activity as soon as those on the inner side cease contracting with prepotent force, leads largely to the re-expansion of the tentacles, but there is reason to sus- pect that fluid is continually and slowly attracted into the outer cells during the act of re-expansion, thus augmenting their tension. With respect to the structure, movements, constitution and habits of Dioncea muscipula and Drosera rotundifolia, as well as kindred species, little has been made out by patient study and investigation in comparison with what remains unexplained and unknown. Many of their movements, especially of Dionaea and Drosera, seem so sensible and intelligent that the reflecting mind of man can hardly hesi- tate to assign them high positions in organic nature and the possession, even though in a very small degree, of that con- sciousness with which animal life is endowed. That man is psychically related to all life is the belief of millions in the old world, and the hope of millions in the new. In this thought Plants That Feed on Insects. 3 1 is the escape from materialism, that threat of the ignorant and unbelieving. Higher conceptions of beauty and greatness are now being entertained by the multitudes, and we begin to feel that the next great step is being taken when we shall become, instead of poor trembling denizens of a perish- able world, proud and conscious citizens of an imperishable universe. That we of the upper ranks of God's . creation alone possess an inner life which shall transcend all change is no longer a general belief, but there is a growing hope that all nature shares it, and that love is its expression and its method. All existence is a unit. Life, law and love are divine. Man, looking calmly about him, cannot set himself apart as something essentially different from nature, but must recognize himself as a part, and include love in the universal scheme of development. All other expressions of life must share with him in the divine love and progress. His dog- mas, founded on mistaken traditions, have given way to science, and he cannot but believe that love is in and of the soul, and that all life has some sort of development of soul. Because plant-life has no brain, and therefore has no intelli- gence, no mind, no soul, is preposterous to contemplate. Who can positively affirm that brain alone is the seat of conscious intelligence? None but He alone, the Giver of all life, who sits enthroned and exalted in the everlasting heavens. SltHflE-flflUHflliS. "pOSSIBLY the simplest of life's children are the singu- -i- larly unique and structureless little Finger Slimes, which live not only in the sea but also in puddles and pools, and in the gutters of our streets and of our house-tops. Anywhere that stagnant water abounds these tiny drops of slime will grow up and make it their home. Sometimes few and far between, and sometimes in such immense crowds that the entire pond would seem, if they could be seen with the unaided vision, literally alive with them, they live, and multiply and die under our very feet. Nothing can be less animal-like than one of these shapeless masses of pure protoplasm, yet under a microscope of strong power it may be seen moving lazily along by pulling out a thick finger of slime and then letting all the rest of its body flow after it. When coming into contact with food it may be said to flow over it, dissolving the soft parts and sending out the hard, indigestible refuse anywhere, no matter where, for its body is devoid of skin, being merely one general mass of homogeneous slime. But what can these little slime specks tell us about the wonderful powers of life ? Nothing at all, it would seem, for in these tiny creatures life has nothing better to work with than a mere drop of living matter, which is all alike throughout, so that if broken into a hundred pieces every piece would be as much a living being as the whole. And yet by means of the wonderful gift of life, with which the all-wise Omnipotence has endowed it, this slime-drop lives, and breathes, and eats, and increases, shrinks away when you Slime- A nimals. 3 3 touch it, feels for its food, and moves from place to place, changing its shape to form limbs and feeling-threads, which are let into the general organism when they have served the purpose of their existing, only to be succeeded by others as short-lived as themselves when necessity requires their development. So small are these creatures that the largest specimen will be found to be smaller than the smallest pin's head. Examine how we will, there will be found no mouth, no stomach, no muscles, no nerves, no parts of any kind. The animal looks merely like a minute drop of gum with fine grains diffused throughout, floating in the water, some times' with out- stretched arms, and at other times as a simple drop. An analysis of the matter of which it is composed shows it to be much the same as a speck of white-of-egg. Yet it is alive, for it breathes. Kept in a drop of water, it uses up the oxygen it contains, and renders the water foul by the carbonic acid it breathes out. The arms, so necessary in the procure- ment of food, can be drawn in and thrown out when and where the animal chooses, showing that some option is undoubtedly exercised in the matter. Minute jelly-plants, that live in the water, and even higher animals than itself, constitute its food. The presence of an animal with a shell does not deter it from attack, for it is just as able to deal with it as with the softer, shell-less kinds, sucking their jelly-like contents, and discarding the empty, innutritious shells. Quite as interesting among the Moners, to which the Finger Slime belongs, is the Protomyxa aurantiaca, a shapeless bit of transparent matter, containing merely circulating granules. Locomotion is effected by extending the body into pseudo- podia, or false feet, and contracting them. Its movement is slow and gliding. When at rest it appears as a mere lump of jelly, but its whole demeanor changes when in the pres- ence of a living animal suited for food. Fine threads imme- diately begin to shoot out from all sides, which fuse about the unsuspecting prey, while all the little grains in the slime 34 Life and Immortality. PROTOMYXA FEEDING. course to and fro. For five or six hours the little fellow hugs closely round the prey until it has become thoroughly absorbed, at least the nutritious parts, into its body-mass, when it draws itself away, or back into its original place, leaving by its side the skeleton of its late victim. Without eyes or ears or parts of any kind it knows how to find its food ; without muscles or limbs it is able to seize it ; without a mouth it can suck out its living body, and without a stomach it can digest the food in the midst of its own slime, and cast out the parts for which it has no use. When Protomyxa has become a burden to itself it divides itself by a simple process of fission, each part being complete in itself, or it assumes a thick covering, becoming encysted, as it is termed. In a little while the enclosed mass divides into spheres, the cell-wall bursts, and the little spheres, which have now taken on a sort of tadpole shape, float out upon the water, where they soon assume the parent-form. Slime- A nimals. 3 5 Like all living things, these Moners have a desire for food, which their protoplasm first appropriates, then con- verts into available material. They thus grow and increase in size, but when they become too large to be comfortable they usually split into two, in obedience to the law of their being, and each half goes its own way as a living animal. This is the earliest form of parentage, the simplest form of repro- duction. Thus yielding to this necessity of a separation of one into more than one, these Moners live on forever, or as long as the earth continues to support life, thus bedoming immortal in the scientific sense in which the term is used to devote a continuance of the physical life on earth. They only and their nearest relatives, as simple in structure as themselves, achieve this stupendous result, for in such a division of their entire substance they know no loss, no death of any part, violence only being able to sunder them from life. They resolve themselves into their own off- spring, and nothing perishes. PUNITIVE LASSO-THWEflS. EVERY one knows that the long cord or thong, called the lasso, is the peculiar weapon of the South American hunter. Almost from his earliest childhood the young Gaucho learns to amuse himself with it, and as soon as he is able to walk takes great pleasure in catching young birds and other animals around his father's hut, hurling the long lash with such dexterity that the noose drops over their bodies and brings them to his feet. Did we wish to select from among all the denizens of life the most brilliant, grace- ful, and sylph-like, whose very life-histories read more like the romance of poetry than sober reality, we would choose those which might be appropriately designated the lasso- throwers. Now among animals, as is only too well known, any weapons which they could be called upon to use must develop in their own bodies, and therefore it could hardly be suspected that a simple jelly-animal could be provided with a lasso ready grown in its own flesh. Yet it is so, for in that class of animals, which ranks just above the sponges, we discover a weapon of this kind as simple and as deadly, and far more wonderful in its action than any used by man. In fresh- water ponds, attached by its base to the under surfaces of aquatic plants, may be found a very small animal, just large enough to be seen without the aid of a lens, usu- ally pale green, but sometimes of a brown color. This is our common hydra, technically called Hydra fusca. It is nothing more than a tube or sac, with a sucker at one end to hold on with, and a mouth at the other, surrounded with Primitive Lasso-Throwers. 37 from five to eight hollow tentacles or feelers, which opens into a central cavity or stomach. Firm and muscular are the walls of the sac, so that the little creature, which is not fixed permanently to whatever it is found clinging to, may stretch itself out or draw back as its own volition dictates, or move slowly along by means of its sucker, or float easily or contentedly upon the water. But the most remark- able, as well as the most interesting thing about this odd creature is the power which it possesses of overcoming ani- mals more powerful and active than itself. FRESH-WATER HYDRA MOORED AND SEARCHING FOR PREY. Groping about with its flexible arms, which are closely invested with fine jelly-hairs, with which it seemingly feels, or attached to some leaf or bit of floating stick, its tentacles reaching out in all directions, the Hydra instantly paralyzes any minute insects, young snail or infusorian that touches its feelers, and complacently closing its arms over the helpless victim, carefully tucks it away, so to speak, into its stomach, where it is speedily digested. This power of paralyzing and thus readily capturing active living creatures is due to the 38 Life and Immortality. presence in the skin of the tentacles and body of what are called lasso-cells, or nettling-organs, which are minute, transparent cells, so small that two hundred of the largest would occupy but the distance of an inch, each being armed with a long barbed thread coiled up within its walls. This delicate thread, which is often from twenty to forty times the length of the cell, lies bathed in a poisonous fluid, and only waits for the cell-walls to burst, which they do when the Hydra touches an animal swimming near it, when thousands of these little barbed cords dart into the victim, quickly paralyzing it and rendering it an easy prey to its captor. All Ccelenterates, such as jelly-fishes and coral polyps, pos- sess these nettling-organs. Thus we see where the Hydra's strength lies. He has no need to struggle, for his victim, penetrated by a multitude of darts, and made powerless by the poison instilled, becomes as manageable as an equal bulk of inert matter. It behooves the little creature to take things quietly, for a cell once burst cannot be used again, and he is therefore compelled to wait until a new one is grown to take the place of the one that has become exhausted. So he patiently bides his time till his victim is half-conquered, when he draws him gently into his body. He lives and catches his food, as must be appar- ent, without the necessity of moving very far from the place where he had his birth. All the summer through the Hydra puts out buds from its side, which, when their tentacles have grown, drop from the parent-body, and settle down in life for themselves. But when winter comes, and before all life has become extinct, an egg appears near the base of the tubes of those that are living, and these eggs lie dormant till the next spring, when they are hatched, and a new generation of Hydras is produced. Budding, which is but a process of natural self-division, is carried on to a large extent, more individuals being pro- duced in this way than from eggs. These buds are at first a simple bulging out of the body-walls, the bud enveloping Primitive Lasso-Throwers. 39 a portion of the stomach, until it becomes constricted and drops off, the tentacles meanwhile budding out from the distal end, and a mouth-opening arising between them. In the Hydra, the Actinia, and other polyps, and in truth in all the lower animals, budding is simply due to an increase in the growth and multiplication of cells at a special place on the outside of the body. As in the vertebrates, man included, the Hydra arises from an egg which, after fertilization, passes through two stages, the germ consisting at first of two cell- layers, but the sexes are not separate as in the marine Hy- droids, which grow in colonies that may be either male or female. Like some other animals of simple structure, the Hydra is capable of reproducing to a most wonderful degree when cut into pieces. Divided in two, each becomes a perfect Hydra, and even when sliced into any number of thin rings each ring will grow out a crown of tentacles. You may split them into longitudinal strips and each strip will event- ually become a well-shaped Hydra. Two individuals may be fastened together by a horse-hair and in a short time they will have become like Siamese twins, but there will never arise the slightest disagreement between them. A Hydra turned inside out will readily adapt itself to the change, and in a few days will be able to swallow and digest bits of meat, its former stomach-lining having now taken upon itself the condition of skin. Hydra fusca is our simplest lasso-thrower, and the only one to be found in fresh waters in this country. Such a wonderful and deadly weapon is his, that it is easy to understand how his numerous relatives in the wide ocean have made good use of the weapon with which nature has provided them, and secured, under all kinds of shapes and forms, homes and resting-places throughout the vast waste of waters. From the Arctic to the Tropics, and from the shallow seaside pools at low tide to the fathomless abysses of the ocean, we meet the lasso-throwers. Now in the form 40 Life and Immortality. of huge jelly-fishes, covering the sea for miles and miles, transparent domes by day and phosphorescing lights by night, and now as tiny balls of jelly, glistening by millions in some quiet bay and splintering into light upon the beach ; or in the form of living animal-trees waving their graceful arms over rocks in waters deep, or creeping like delicate threads over shells and stones and seaweed on the shore, where they often lose their identity and are mistaken for plants. There is scarcely a nook or cranny in the bed of ocean where these tree-like forms, associated with the beautiful sea-anemone, whose brilliant crimson, green and purple are unmatched in color by gem and flower, are not to be found. All these beautiful creatures, as well as the living coral that nestles in the bosom of the warm Mediterranean or the sea that lashes our Southern shores, or that struggles boldly against Pacific's waves, are lasso-throwers. Ccelenterata, the "hollow-bodied animals," because of the large cavity within their bodies, is the name by which they are known to science. They naturally fall into two families, the Hydrozoa, or Water Animals, and the Actinizoa, or Ray-like Animals, our little Hydra, about which so much has been written, being repre- sentative of the former and the Anemones of the latter division. FIVE-FINGERED JRCK Ofl THE OYSTER OUITE as infinite in number, variety and form is the life of the sea as that of the land. But of all marine ani- <*'' mals, however, there is none more curious than the echino- derm, a name derived by science from two Greek words, indicating an animal bristling with spines like the hedge- hog. These creatures are sometimes free, but quite as often attached by a stem, flexible or otherwise, and radiate after the fashion of a circle or star, or are of the form of a star, with more or less elongated arms. They are covered with shell-like plates, which they secrete for themselves, and are still further protected by spines or scales. Perhaps the most common of the echinoderms is the Star- fish, or Five-fingered Jack, as it is called by sailors. Who- ever has spent any time on the seashore has doubtless made the acquaintance of this animal, for it is readily distinguish- able by its shape, its upper surface being rough and tuber- culous, and armed with spine-like projections, while the under portion is soft, containing the essential organs of life and locomotion. When first seen stranded on the shore the Star-fish, by the uninitiated, is thought to be a creature incapable of move- ment of any kind. But this is far from being the case, for in its native element it moves along the bottom of the sea with the greatest ease, being provided with an apparatus specially adapted for the purpose. Ordinarily its arms are kept upon the same level, but in passing over obstacles that lay in its path, the animal has the power of raising any one of its several arms. Elevations are ascended with the same 42 Life and Immortality. ease and facility as progression on plane surfaces is effected. Perforating the arms, or rays, and issuing from apertures, will be found large numbers of membranous tubes, which prove to be the feet of the animal. Upon careful examination the latter will be found to consist of two parts, a bladder-like portion, resident within the body, and a tubular outlying pro- jection, ending in a disk-shaped sucker, thus showing the feet to be muscular cylinders, hollow in the centre, and very extensible. In progression the animal extends a few of its feet, attaches its suckers to the rocks or stones and then, by retracting its feet, draws the body forward. Like that of the tortoise, its pace is slow and sure. But the most singular thing about this singular animal is its manner of overcoming obstructions, which it must certainly perceive, judging from the preparations to surmount them which it makes at the opportune moment. In addition to organs of locomotion Star-fishes possess blood-vessels, digestive and respiratory apparatus, and a nervous system of a very low order, an inference to which its seeming capacity of enduring vivisection without pain unmistakably leads. Interesting as its manner of progression, even under the most trying circumstances, must be, yet there is nothing in the life of this lowly-organized animal that has half the charm to the true lover and student of nature than the mother Star's devotion to her young. Her eggs she carries in little pouches placed at the base of the rays. When emitted through an opening, which occasionally and unintentionally occurs, the mother does not abandon them to the cruel charities of the ocean world, but gathers them together, forming a kind of protecting cover of them, very much like a hen brooding over her chickens. Her actions bespeak an anxiety which could only be born of an affection, as real and sympathetic as that which a human mother feels for the loss of any of her offspring. No matter how often the eggs become accident- ally scattered, the mother does not grow weary of her charges Five-Fingered Jack on the Oyster. 43 and leave them to themselves, but gathers them to the maternal fold with the same tender, patient solicitude as characterized her first efforts. Confined to a tank, when with ova, the mother Star has been known to traverse the entire length of the vessel until she has found and recovered her scattered treasures. Reproduction by eggs is not the only means of generation in vogue. In common with other sea animals the Star-fish has the strange capacity of detaching one or more of its arms, each of the cast-off members becoming in time a perfect creature of its own kind, while a new arm, fully equipped to perform all necessary functions, will grow out in place of the lost member. From twelve to fifteen weeks are required to reproduce a lost ray, the animal meanwhile seeming not the least discontented, but acting as utterly unconscious of any changes in its anatomy. As found upon the shore, Star- fishes appear dead when really they are alive. Put one of these perfectly still creat- ures into fresh sea-water, and in a short time it will probably be disporting itself as freely as ever it did. But as the dead and the living, when stranded by the tide, present nearly the same appearance, some certain test seems necessary to dis- tinguish them apart. If a Star-fish hangs loose and limp, it is dead ; but, however dead it may look, if on touching it there are manifest a firmness and consistency in its substance, one may feel reasonably sure that it is playing the 'possum and will revive when placed in the water. Quite as certain a mode of ascertaining whether your starry friend is living or dead, is to lay it upon its back, when, if alive, a number of semi-transparent globular objects will be seen to move, reaching this way and that, as though feeling for some- thing to lay hold of wherewith to restore it to its .normal position. These globular appendages are the ambulacra, or locomotory organs, seeking to acquire this end. If, however, no movement is manifested, you can wisely conclude that your animal is dead. 44 Life and Immortality. The Star-fish, not unlike all other animals of the sea, has an appetite that is never satisfied. Dinner is always welcome. The procurement of food seems its chief concern in life. It is a scavenger of no mean importance, keeping up an inces- sant chase after all kinds of dead animal matter, and thus largely contributing, it is probable, towards the maintaining of the waters of the ocean in a state of purity. But its feeding is not exclusively restricted to decaying matters. Any species of mollusk, from the humble whelk, not more than five-eighths of an inch in length, to the lordly oyster, so esteemed by epicures, constitutes a dainty tidbit. No more inveterate ravager and brigand, not even excepting man himself, have the oyster-beds to disturb the equanimity and serenity of their existence than the audacious, insinuating Star-fish. With its five arms, and apparently without any other organ, this comparatively insignificant little being accom- plishes a work which man, without the aid of extraneous appliances, is quiet unable to execute. It opens an oyster as deftly and effectually as an expert oysterman would do, and that, too, without the habitual oyster-knife, and swallows the slimy bivalve in the same manner as the lords of creation do. Man, with all his genius and skill, were he deprived of all other means of subsistence than the oyster, and having no implement with which to open it, would be severely puzzled to get at the savory morsel shut up in its obstinate valves, yet the Star-fish performs the task seemingly without the least difficulty. How the Star-fish manages the problem was at first a mat- ter of guess-work. For a long time it was confidently believed that the animal waited for the moment when the oyster opened its shell to introduce one of its arms into the opening. This much gained, the other four arms were got in without much trouble, and the whole business ended with the devouring of the inmate. This belief is no longer tenable. Careful observation has revealed to us the true Five-Fingered Jack on the Oyster. 45 STAR-FISH OPENING AN OYSTER. inwardness of the proceeding. The oyster is seized between the arms of the Star-fish and held under its mouth by the aid of its suckers. Thus secured, the Asterias, or Star-fish, everts its stomach, and envelops the whole oyster in its in- terior recesses, distilling a poisonous fluid, a secretion from its mouth, which causes the oyster to open its shell, when the robber, as it were, crawls in and takes its dessert. In- credible numbers of oysters are destroyed by Star-fishes, but the oystermen fail to see that their own barbaric ignor- ance is largely to blame. Star-fishes drawn up in nets, rakes and dredges in immense quantities are tied into bundles, but the cords are made so tight that the pile is cut in twain, the result being that all the pieces, when afterwards thrown over- board, become new and perfect Star-fishes. Not often has one the pleasure of meeting with these ani- mals on the New Jersey coast, but yet they are occasionally seen, more frequently, perhaps, in the North. Asterias bery- linns, the commoner form, is a fairly large species, of a more or less greenish color, sometimes waning to brown, and roughly covered with tubercles. Its five arms, at the ex- tremity of each of which is situated a single red-eye speck, 46 Life and Immortality. are somewhat irregularly arranged, and not rarely one is stumpy through breakage or unequal development. When a Star-fish is alarmed, or finds itself in strange quar- ters, it will be seen to curl up the tips of its rays, and there under the point of each ray will be found a thick red spot seated on the extremity of a nerve, and having in it as many as from one hundred to two hundred crystal lenses sur- rounded by red cells. With such a highly-developed eye, which is far better than the jelly-fish enjoys, it is no wonder that the Star-fish is so quick in discerning food, or enrages the fisherman by the discovery of the bait which he had intended for other animals, for it turns out that this stupid- looking animal is more wide-awake than it is given credit for. Sometimes, as in the beautifully delicate Star-fish, called the " Lingthorn," a soft lid, or feeler, hangs over the eye-spot, which gives to the creature a curiously intelligent look, but in the case of our common form this lid is notably absent. From all that has been written it must be evident that our first walking animal is by no means a poor or feeble creature. He has a chain armor woven into his leathery skin, with sharp, pointed spines, and snapping, beak-like claws to pro- tect him; an excellent digestion and a capacious mouth to feed his greedy stomach, and a fine array of nerves, quick feeling and eyesight, and a wonderful apparatus for moving over the ground. When it is added to all these possessions the ability to close over the wound in the case of a lost ray and the growing of a new one, we see that his powers of living satisfactorily are by no means insignificant. But this curious walking apparatus of the Star-fish is far from being perfect in all his relations. They do not all walk by means of suckers any more than all sponge-animals build toilet sponge, or all slime-animals make chambered shells. Sure, the Rosy Feather-stars, for example, have no use for feet-tubes, as their lives are generally spent upon the rocks or nestled in bunches of sea-weed. Brittle-stars, as these are called, though closely related to the Star-fishes, are not easily Five-Fingered Jack on the Oyster. 47 confounded with them, for their arms are found to radiate from a clearly defined central disk, and there is no prolongation of their stomachs and ovaries into their interiors. The tube- feet pass out from the plates along the sides of the arms, instead of from the under surface as in the Star-fishes proper, and probably serve merely as a help for breathing, locomo- tion over the sands being effected by their long flexible arms. Their home is chiefly among the tangle and eel-grass, where their protecting covering affords them security from their many enemies. 111 HISTORY. EARTH-WORMS are found throughout the world. Though few in genera, and not many in species, yet they make up in individual numbers, for it has been esti- mated that they average about one hundred thousand to the acre. Our American species have never been monographed, which renders it impossible to judge of their probable num- ber. Their castings may be seen on commons, so as to cover almost entirely their surface, where the soil is poor and the grass short and thin, and they are almost as numer- ous in some of our parks where the grass grows well and the soil appears rich. Even on the same piece of ground worms are much more frequent in some places than in others, although no visible difference in the nature of the soil is manifest. They abound in paved court-yards contiguous to houses, and on the sidewalks in country towns, and instances have been reported where they have burrowed through the floors of very damp cellars. Beneath large trees few castings can be found during cer- tain parts of the year, and this is apparently due to the moisture having been sucked out of the ground by the in- numerable roots of the trees, an explanation which seems to be confirmed by the fact that such places may be observed covered with castings after the heavy autumnal rains. Although most coppices and woods support large numbers of worms, yet in forests of certain kinds of tree-growths, where the ground beneath is destitute of vegetation, not a casting is seen over wide reaches of ground, even during the autumn. In mountainous districts worms are mostly rare, it Earth- Worms in History. 49 would seem, a circumstance which is perhaps owing to the close proximity of the subjacent rocks, into which it is impossible for them to burrow during the winter, so as to escape being frozen. But there are some exceptions to this rule, for they have been found at great altitudes in certain parts of the world, and especially is this so in India, where they have been observed to be quite numerous upon the mountains. Though in one sense semi-aquatic animals, like the other members of the great class of Annelids to which they belong, yet it cannot be denied that earth-worms are terrestrial creatures. Their exposure to the dry air of a room for a single night proves fatal to them, while on the other hand they have been kept alive for nearly four months completely submerged in water. During the summer, when the ground is dry, they penetrate to a great depth and cease to work, just as they do in winter when the ground is frozen. They are nocturnal in their habits, and may be seen crawling about in large numbers at night, but generally with their tails still inserted in their burrows. By the expansion of this part of the body, and with the aid of the short reflexed bristles with which they are armed inferiorly, they hold so securely that they can seldom be withdrawn from the ground without being torn in pieces. But during the day, except at the time of pairing, when those which inhabit adjoining burrows expose the greater part of their bodies for an hour or two in the early morning, they remain in their burrows. Sick individuals, whose illness is caused by the parasitic larvae of a fly, must also be excepted, as they wander about during the day and die on the surface. Aston- ishing numbers of dead worms may sometimes be seen lying on the ground after a heavy rain succeeding dry weather, no less than a half-hundred in a space of a few square yards, but these are doubtless worms that were already sick, whose deaths were merely hastened by the ground being flooded, for if they had been drowned it is probable, from 50 Life and Immortality. the facts already given, that they would have perished in their burrows. After there has been a heavy rain the film of mud or of very fine sand to be seen over gravel-walks in the morning is often distinctly marked with the tracks of worms. From May to August, inclusive, this has been noticed when the months have been wet. Very few dead worms are anywhere to be seen on these occasions, although the walks are marked with innumerable tracks, five tracks often being counted crossing a space of only an inch square, which could be traced either to or from the mouths of the burrows in the gravel-walks for distances varying from three to fifteen yards, but no two tracks being seen to lead to the same burrow. It is not likely, from what is known of the sense-organs of these animals, that a worm could find its way back to its burrow after having once left it. They leave their burrows, it would seem, on a voyage of discovery, and thus they find new sites for the exercise of their powers. For hours together they may often be seen lying almost motionless beneath the mouths of their burrows. But let the ejected earth or rubbish over their burrows be suddenly removed and the end of the worm's body may be seen rapidly retreating. This habit of lying near the surface leads to their destruc- tion to an immense extent, for, at certain seasons of the year, the robins and blackbirds that visit our lawns in the country may be observed drawing out of their holes an astonishing number of worms, which could not be done unless they lay close to the surface. But what brings the worms to the sur- face ? This is a question whose answer cannot be positively asserted. It is not probable that they behave in this manner for the purpose of breathing fresh air, for it has been seen that they can live a long time under water. That they are there for the sake of warmth, especially in the morning, is a more reasonable supposition, which seems to be confirmed by the fact that they often coat the mouths of their burrows Earth- Worms in History. 5 1 with leaves, apparently to prevent their bodies from coming into contact with the cold, damp earth, and by the still other fact that they completely close their burrows during the winter. Some remarks about the structure of the earth-worm now appear apropos. Its body consists of from one hundred to two hundred almost cylindrical rings, each provided with minute bristles. The muscular system is well developed, thus enabling these animals to crawl backwards as well as forwards, and to retreat by the help of their affixed tails into their burrows with extraordinary rapidity. Situated at the anterior end of the body is the mouth. It is furnished with a little projection, variously called the lobe or lip, which is used for prehension. Behind the mouth, internally located, is a strong pharynx, which is pushed forwards when the animal eats, corresponding, it is said, with the protrudable trunk of other Annelids. The pharynx conducts to the oesophagus, on each side of the lower part of which are placed three pairs of large glands, called calciferous glands, whose function is the secretion of carbonate of lime. These glands are very remarkable organs, and their like is not to be found in any other animal. Their use is connected in some way with the process of digestion. The oesophagus, in most of the species, is enlarged into a crop in front of the gizzard. This latter organ is lined with a smooth, thick chitinous membrane, and is surrounded by weak, longitudi- nal, but powerful transverse muscles, whose energetic action is most effectual in the trituration of the food, for these worms possess no jaws, or teeth of any kind. Grains of sand and small stones, from the one-twentieth to the one-tenth of an inch in size, are found in their gizzards and intestines, and these little stones, independently of those swallowed while excavating their burrows, most probably serve, like mill- stones, to triturate their food. The gizzard opens into the intestine a most remarkable structure, an intestine within an intestine which runs in a straight line to the vent at the 5 2 Life and Immortality. posterior end of the body. But this curious structure, as shown by Claparede, merely consists of a deep longitudinal involution of the walls of the intestine, by which means an extensive absorbent surface is secured. Worms have a well-developed circulating system. Their breathing is effected by the skin, and so they do not possess any special respiratory apparatus. Each individual unites the two sexes in its own body, but two individuals pair together. The nervous system is fairly well developed, the two nearly confluent cerebral ganglia being situated very close to the anterior extremity of the body. Being destitute of eyes, we would naturally conclude that worms were quite insensible to light ; but from many experi- ments that have been made by Darwin, Hofmeister and others, it is evident that light affects them, but only by its intensity and duration. It is the anterior extremity of the body, where the cerebral ganglia lie, that is affected, for if this part is shaded and other parts of the body are illumi- nated no effect will be produced. As these animals have no eyes, it is probable that the light passes through their skins and excites in some manner their cerebral ganglia. When worms are employed in dragging leaves into their burrows or in eating them, and even during the brief intervals of rest from their labors, they either do not perceive the light or are regardless of it, and this is even the case when the light is concentrated upon them through a large lens. Paired indi- viduals will remain for an hour or two together out of their burrows, fully exposed to the morning light, but it appears, from what some writers have said, that a light will occasion- ally cause paired individuals to separate. When a worm is suddenly illuminated and dashes into its burrow, one is led to look at the action as a reflex one, the irritation of the cerebral ganglia apparently causing certain muscles to con- tract in an inevitable manner, without the exercise of the will or consciousness of the animal, as though it was an automaton. But the different effect which a light produces Earth- Worms in History. 5 3 on different occasions, and especially the fact that a worm when in any way occupied, no matter what set of muscles and ganglia may be brought into play, is often regardless of light, are antagonistic to the view of the sudden withdrawal being a simple reflex action. With the higher animals, when close attention to some object leads to the disregard of the impressions which other objects must be producing upon them, we ascribe this to their attention being then absorbed, and attention necessarily implies the presence of mind. Although worms cannot be said to possess the power of vision, yet their sensitiveness to light enables them to dis- criminate between day and night, and thus they escape the attacks of the many diurnal animals that would prey upon them. They are less sensitive to a moderate radiant heat than to a bright light, as repeated experiments have con- clusively shown; and their disinclination to leave their burrows during a frost proves that they are sensitive to a low temperature. Investigation fails to locate in worms any organ of hear- ing, from which must be concluded that they are insensible to sounds. The shrill notes of a metallic whistle sounded near them, and the deepest and loudest tones of a bassoon, failed to awaken the least notice. Although indifferent to modulations in the air, audible to human ears, yet they are extremely sensitive to vibrations in any solid object. Even the light and delicate tread of a robin affrights and sends them deep into their burrows. It has been said that if the ground is beaten, or otherwise made to tremble, that worms believe they are pursued by a mole and leave their burrows, but this does not stand the test of experiment, for the writer has frequently beaten the ground in many places where these creatures abounded, but not one emerged. A worm's entire body is sensitive to contact, the slightest puff of air from the mouth causing an instant retreat. When a worm first comes out of its burrow it generally moves the much-extended anterior extremity of its body from side to side in all 54 Life and Immortality. directions, apparently as an object of touch, and there is good reason to believe that they are thus enabled to gain a general knowledge of the form of an object. Touch, including in this term the perception of a vibration, seems much the most highly developed of all their senses. The sense of smell is quite feeble, and is apparently confined to the perception of certain odors. They are quite indifferent to the human breath, even when tainted by tobacco, or to a pellet of cotton- wool with a few drops of Millefleur's perfume when held by pincers and moved about within a few inches of them. The perception of such an unnatural odor would be of no service to them. Now, as such timid creatures would almost cer- tainly exhibit some signs of any new impression, we may reasonably conclude that they did not perceive these odors. But when cabbage leaves and pieces of onion were employed, both of which are devoured with much relish by worms, the result was different. These, with bits of fresh raw meat, have been buried in pots beneath one-fourth of an inch of common garden soil, or sometimes laid on pieces of tin foil in the earth, the ground being pressed down slightly, so as not to prevent the emission of any odor, and yet they were always discovered by the worms that were placed in the pots, and removed after varying periods of time. These facts indicate that worms possess some power of smell, and that they dis- cover by this means odoriferous and much-coveted kinds of food. That all animals which feed on various substances possess the sense of taste, is a wise presumption. This is certainly the case with worms. Cabbage leaves are much liked by worms, and it would seem that they are able to distinguish between the different varieties, but this may perhaps be owing to differences in their texture. When leaves of the cabbage, horse-radish and onion were given together, they manifestly preferred the last to the others. Celery is preferred to the leaves of the cabbage, lime-tree, ampelopsis and parsnip, and the leaves of the wild cherry and carrots, especially the latter, Earth- Worms in History. 5 5 to all the others. That the worms have a preference for one taste over another, is still further shown from what follows. Pieces of the leaves of cabbage, turnip, horse-radish and onion have been fed to the worms, mingled with the leaves of an Artemisia and of the culinary sage, thyme and mint, differing in no material degree in texture from the foregoing four, yet quite as strong in taste, but the latter were quite neglected excepting those of the mint, which were slightly nibbled, but the others were all attacked and had to be renewed. There is little to be noted about the mental qualities of worms. They have been seen to be timid creatures. Their eagerness for certain kinds of food manifestly shows that they must enjoy the pleasure of eating. So strong is their sexual passion that they overcome for a time their dread of light. They seem to have a trace of social feeling, for they are not disturbed by crawling over each other's bodies, and they sometimes lie in contact. Although remarkably defi- cient in the several sense-organs, yet this does not necessarily preclude intelligence, for it has been shown that when their attention is engaged they neglect impressions to which they would otherwise have attended, and attention, as is well known, indicates the presence of a mind of some kind. A few actions are performed instinctively, that is, all the indi- viduals, including the young, perform each action in nearly the same manner. The various species of Perichaeta eject their castings so as to construct towers, and the burrows of the Common Earth-worm Lumbricus terrestris are smoothly lined with fine earth and often with little stones, and the mouth with leaves. One of their strongest instincts is the plugging up of the mouths of their burrows with various objects, the very young worms acting in a similar manner. But some degree of intelligence is manifested, as will subse- quently appear. Almost everything is eaten by worms. They swallow enormous quantities of earth, from which they extract any 56 Life and Immortality. digestible matter it may contain. Large numbers of half- decayed leaves of all kinds, excepting a few that are too tough and unpleasant to the taste, and likewise petioles, peduncles, and decayed flowers. Fresh leaves are consumed as well. Particles of sugar, licorice and starch, and bits of raw and. roasted meat, and preferably raw fat, are eaten when they come into their possession, but the last article with a better relish than any other substance given to them. They are cannibals to a certain extent, and have been known ta eat the dead bodies of their own companions. The digestive fluid of worms, according to Leon Fredericq, is analogous in nature to the pancreatic secretion of the higher animals, and this conclusion agrees perfectly with the kinds of food which they consume. Pancreatic juice emul- sifies fat, dissolves fibrin, and worms greedily devour fat and eat raw meat. It converts starch into grape-sugar with wonderful rapidity, and the digestive fluid of worms acts upon the starch of leaves. But worms live chiefly on half- decayed leaves, and these would be useless to them unless they could digest the cellulose forming the cell-walls, for all other nutritious substances, as is well known, are almost completely withdrawn from leaves shortly before they fall off. It has been ascertained that cellulose, though very little or not at all attacked by the gastric juice of the higher animals, is acted on by that from the pancreas, and so worms eat the leaves as much for the cellulose as for the starch they contain. The half-decayed or fresh leaves which are intended for food are dragged into the mouths of their bur- rows to a depth of from one to three inches, and are then moistened with a secreted fluid, which has been assumed to hasten their decay, but which, from its alkaline nature, and from its acting both on the starch-granules and on the proto- plasmic contents of the cells, is not of the nature of saliva, but a pancreatic secretion, and of the same kind as is found in the intestines of worms. As the leaves which are dragged into the burrows are often dry and shrivelled, it is Earth- Worms in History. 5 7 indispensable for the unarmed mouths of worms that they should first be moistened and softened, their disintegration being thereby the more readily effected. Fresh leaves, how- ever soft and tender they may be, are similarly treated, prob- ably from habit. Thus the leaves are partially digested before they are taken into the alimentary canal, an instance of extra-stomachal digestion, whose nearest analogy is to be found in such plants as Dionaea and Drosera, for in them animal matter is digested and converted into peptone, not within a stomach, but on the surfaces of the leaves. But no portion of the economy of worms has been more the subject of speculation than the calciferous glands. About as many theories have been advanced on their utility as there have been observers. Judging from their size and from their rich supply of blood-vessels, they must be of vast importance to these animals. They consist of three pairs, which in the Common Earth-worm debouch into the ali- mentary canal in front of the gizzard, but posteriorly to it, in some genera. The two posterior pairs are formed by lamellae, diverticula from the oesophagus, which are coated with a pulpy cellular layer, with the outer cells lying free in infinite numbers. If one of these glands is punctured and squeezed, a quantity of white, pulpy matter exudes, consisting of these free cells, which are minute bodies, varying in diameter from two to six millimetres. They contain in their centres a small quantity of excessively fine granular matter, that looks so like oil globules that many scientists are deceived by its appearance. When treated with acetic acid they quickly dissolve with effervescence. An addition of oxalate of ammo- nia to the solution throws down a white precipitate, showing that the cells contain carbonate of lime. The two anterior glands differ a little in shape from the four posterior ones by being more oval, and also conspicuously in generally con- taining several small, or two or three larger, or a single very large concretion of carbonate of lime, as much as one and one-half millimetres in diameter. With respect to the function 5 8 Life and Immortality. of the calciferous glands, it is likely that they primarily serve as organs of excretion, and secondarily as an aid to digestion. Worms consume many fallen leaves. It is known that lime goes on accumulating in leaves until they drop off the parent-plant, instead of being re-absorbed into the stem or roots, like various other organic and inorganic substances, and worms would therefore be liable to become charged with this earth, unless there was some special apparatus for its excretion, and for this purpose the calciferous glands are ably adapted. On the other hand, the carbonate of lime, which is excreted by the glands, aids the digestive process under ordinary circumstances. Leaves during their decay generate an abundance of various kinds of acids, which have been grouped together under the term of humus acids. These half-decayed leaves, which are swallowed by worms in large quantities, would, therefore, after having been moistened and triturated in the alimentary canal, be apt to produce such acids, and in the case of several worms, whose alimentary canals were examined, their contents were plainly shown by litmus paper to be decidedly acid. This acidity cannot be attributed to the nature of the digestive fluid, for pancreatic juice is alkaline, and so also is the secretion which is poured out of the mouths of worms for the preparation of the leaves for consumption. With worms not only the contents of the intestines, but their ejected matter or the castings are gener- ally acid. The digestive fluid of worms resembles in its action, as already stated, the pancreatic secretion of the higher animals, and in these latter pancreatic digestion is necessarily alkaline, and the action will not take place unless some alkali be present; and the activity of an alkaline juice is arrested by acidification, and hindered by neutralization. Therefore is seems probable that innumerable calciferous cells, which are emptied from the four posterior glands in the alimentary canal, serve to neutralize more or less completely the acids generated there by the half-decayed leaves. These cells, as has been seen, are instantly dissolved by a small quantity of Ear th-Worms in History. 59 acetic acid, and as they do not always suffice to render of no effect the contents of the upper part of the alimentary canal, it is probable that the lime is aggregated into concretions, in the anterior pair of glands, in order that some may be con- veyed to the posterior parts of the intestine, where these concretions would be rolled about among the acid contents. The concretions found in the intestines and in the castings often present a worn appearance, but whether due to attrition or chemical corrosion it is impossible to say. That they are formed for the sake of acting as mill stones, as Claparede believed, and of thus assisting in the trituration of food, is not at all likely, as this object is already attained by the stones that are present in the gizzards and intestines. In dragging leaves into their burrows worms generally seize the thin edge of a leaf with their mouths, between the projecting upper and lower lip, the thick and strong pharynx at the same time being pushed forwards within their bodies, so as to afford a point de resistance for the upper lip ; but in the case of broad and flat objects the pointed anterior extremity of the body, after being brought into contact with an object of this kind, is drawn within the adjoining rings, so that it becomes truncated and as thick as the rest of the body. This part is then seen to swell a little, seemingly from the pharynx being pushed a little forwards. By a slight withdrawal of the pharynx, or by its expansion, a vacuum is produced beneath the truncated, slimy end of the body whilst in contact with the object, and by this means the two adhere firmly together. Worms can attach themselves to an object in the same manner under the water. As worms have no teeth, and their mouths consist of very soft tissue, it may be presumed that they consume by means of suction of the edges and parenchyma of fresh leaves after they have been softened by the digestive fluid. They cannot attack such strong leaves as those of sea-kale or large and thick leaves of ivy. They not only seize leaves and other objects for purposes of food, but for plugging up 6o Life and Immortality. COMMON EARTH-WORMS Out on a Foraging Excursion. the mouths of their burrows. Flower-peduncles, decayed twigs of trees, bits of paper, feathers, tufts of wool and horse-hair are some of the many things other than leaves that are dragged into their burrows for this purpose. Many hundred leaves of the pine-tree have been found drawn by their bases into burrows. Where fallen leaves are abundant, especially ordinary dicotyledonous leaves, many more than can be used are collected over the mouth of a burrow, so that a small pile of unused leaves is left like a roof over those which have been partly dragged in. A leaf in being dragged a little way into a cylindrical burrow necessarily becomes much folded or crumpled, and when another is drawn in, this is done exteriorly to the first, and so on with succeeding leaves, till finally they all become closely folded and pressed together. Sometimes the mouth of a burrow Earth- Worms in History. 6 1 is enlarged, or a fresh one is made close by, so that a larger number of leaves may be drawn in. Generally the interstices between the drawn-in leaves are filled with moist, viscid earth ejected from their bodies, thus rendering them doubly secure. Hundreds of such plugged burrows may be seen during the autumnal and early winter months. When leaves, petioles, sticks, etc., cannot be obtained for the mouths of their burrows, heaps of stones, smooth, rounded pebbles, are utilized for protection. When the stones are removed and the surface of the ground is cleared for some inches round the burrow, the worms may be seen with their tails fixed in their burrows dragging the stones inward by the aid of their mouths, stones weighing as much as two ounces often being found in the little heaps, which goes to show how strong these apparently weak creatures are. Work of this kind is usually performed during the night, although objects have been occasionally known to be drawn into the burrows during the day. What advantage worms derive from plugging up the mouths of their burrows, or from piling stones over them, cannot be satisfactorily answered. They do not act in this manner when they eject much earth from their burrows, for then their castings serve to cover the mouth. Perhaps the plugs serve to protect them from the attacks of scolopenders, their most inveterate enemies, or to enable them to remain with safety with their heads close to the mouths of their burrows, which they like so well to do, but which, unless protected, costs many a fellow its life. Besides, may not the plugs check the free ingress of the lowest stratum of air, when chilled by radiation at night, from the surrounding ground and herbage ? The last view of the matter seems especially well taken, because worms kept in pots where there is fire, having no cold air with which to contend, plug up their burrows in a slovenly man- ner, and because they often coat the upper part of their burrows with leaves, apparently to prevent their bodies from coming into contact with the cold, damp earth. But the 62 Life and Immortality. plugging-up process may undoubtedly serve for all these purposes. Whatever the motive may be, it seems that worms much dislike leaving the mouths of their burrows open, yet, nevertheless, they will reopen them at night, whether or not they are able afterwards to close them. Considerable intelligence is shown by worms in their man- ner of plugging up their burrows. If man had to plug up a cylindrical hole with such objects as leaves, petioles or twigs, he would push them in by their pointed ends, but if these were thin relatively to the size of the hole, he would probably insert some by their broader ends. Intelligence would certainly be his guide in such a case. But how worms would drag leaves into their burrows, whether by their tips, bases, or middle parts, has been a matter of interest to many. Darwin, who experimented upon the subject, found it especially desirable to experiment with plants not natives to his country, for he conceived that although the habit of dragging leaves into their burrows is undoubtedly instinctive with worms, yet instinct could not teach them how to act in the case of leaves about which their progeni- tors knew nothing. Did they act solely through instinct, or an unvarying inherited impulse, they would draw all kinds of leaves into their burrows in the same manner. Having no such definite instinct, chance might be expected to deter- mine whether the tip, base, or middle might be seized. If the worm in each case first tries many different methods, and follows that alone which proves possible or the most easy, then both instinct and chance are ruled out of the solution of the question. But to act in this manner, and to try different methods, makes what in man would be called intelligent action. Three species of pine-leaves are mentioned by Darwin as being regularly drawn into the mouths of worm-burrows on the gravel-walk in his garden. These leaves consist of two needles, which are united to a common base, and it is by this point that they are almost invariably drawn into the burrows. Earth- Worms in History. 65 As the sharply-pointed needles diverge somewhat, and as several are drawn into the same burrow, each tuft forms a perfect chevaux-de-frise. Many tufts were pulled up in the evening, but by the ensuing morning fresh leaves had taken their places, and the burrows again well protected. Impos- sible it would be to drag these leaves to any depth into the burrows, except by their bases, as a worm cannot seize hold of the two leaves at the same time, and if one alone were seized by the apex, the other would be pressed against the ground and resist the entry of the one that was seized. That the worms should do their work well, it was very essential that they drag the pine-leaves into their burrows by their bases, that is, where the two needles are conjoined. But how they are guided in this work was at first perplexing. The difficulty, however, was soon settled. With the assistance of his son Francis, the elder Darwin set to work to observe worms in confinement during several nights by the aid of a dim light, while they dragged the leaves of the afore- mentioned kinds into their burrows. They were seen to move the anterior extremities of their bodies about the leaves, and on several occasions when they touched the sharp end of the needle they suddenly withdrew as though they had been pricked, but it is doubtful that they were hurt, for they are indifferent to sharp objects, being known to swallow rose-thorns and small splinters of glass. It may be doubted whether the sharp end of the needle serves to tell them that is the wrong end to seize, for the points of many were cut off for the length of an inch, and these leaves were always drawn in by their bases and not by the cut-off ends. The worms, it seemed, almost instantly perceived as soon as they had seized a leaf in the proper manner. Many leaves were cemented together at the top, or tied together by fine thread, and these in the majority of instances were dragged in by their bases, which leads to the conclusion that there must be something attractive to worms in the base of pine-leaves, notwithstanding that few ordinary leaves are drawn in by 64 Life and Immortality. their base or footstalk. Leaves of other plants, and also the petioles of some compound plants, as well as triangular bits of paper, dry and damp, were experimented with, and the manner of seizing the objects and bearing them into their burrows were as amusing as they were novel and interesting. The leaves and stems used were such as the worms had not been accustomed to in their respective haunts. When the several cases experimented on are considered, one can hardly escape from the conclusion that some degree of intelligence is shown by worms in plugging up their bur- rows. Each particular object is seized in too uniform a manner, and from causes which we can generally under- stand, for the result to be attributed to mere chance. That every object has not been drawn in by its pointed end may be accounted for by labor having been saved by some being carried in by their broader ends. There is no doubt that worms are governed by instinct in plugging up their bur- rows, and it might be expected that they would have been taught in every particular instance how to act independently of intelligence. It is very difficult to judge when intelli- gence comes into play. The actions of animals, appearing due to intelligence, may be performed through inherited habit without any intelligence, although aboriginally acquired, or the habit may be acquired through the preservation and inheritance of some other action, and in the latter case the new habit will have been acquired independently of intelli- gence throughout the entire course of its development. There is no a priori improbability in worms having acquired special instincts through either of these two latter means. Nevertheless it is incredible that instincts should have been developed in reference to objects, such as the leaves and petioles of foreign plants, wholly unknown to the progeni- tors of the worms which have acted in the manner just described. Nor are their actions so unvarying or inevitable as are most true instincts. Earth- Worms in History. 65 As worms are not controlled by special instincts in each particular case, though possessing a general instinct to plug up their burrows, and as chance is excluded, the next most probable conclusion is that they try in many ways to draw in objects and finally succeed in some one way. It is sur- prising, however, that an animal so low in the scale as a worm should have the capacity to act in this way, as many higher animals have no such capacity, the instincts of the latter often being followed in a senseless or purposeless manner. We can safely infer intelligence, as Mr. Romanes, who has specially studied animals, says, only when we see an individual profiting by his own experiences. That worms are able to judge either before or after having drawn an object close to the mouths of their burrows how best to drag it in, shows that they must have acquired some notion of its general shape. This they probably acquire by touching it in many places with the anterior extremity of their bodies, which serves them as a tactile organ. Man, even when born blind and deaf, shows how perfect the sense of touch may become, and if worms, which also come into being in the same condition, have the power of acquiring some notion, however rude, of the shape of an object and their burrows, they deserve, it must seem to every sensible mind, to be called intelligent creatures, for they act in such a case in nearly the same manner as a man would under similar circumstances. That worms, which stand so low in the scale of organization, should possess some degree of intelligence, will doubtless strike everyone as very improb- able. It may be doubted, however, whether we know enough about the nervous system of the lower animals to justify our natural distrust of such a conclusion. With re- gard to the small size of the cerebral ganglia, we would do well to remember what a mass of inherited knowledge, with some power of adapting means to an end, is crowded into the minute brain of a worker ant. 66 Life and Immortality. Two ways are adopted by worms in excavating their bur- rows. Either the earth is pushed away on all sides or it is swallowed by the animal. In the former case the worm inserts the stretched-out and attenuated anterior extremity of its body into any little crevice or hole, and the pharynx is pushed forward into this part, which consequently swells and pushes away the earth on all sides, the anterior extremity thus acting as a wedge. When placed in loose mould a worm will bury itself in between two and three minutes, but in earth that is moderately pressed down it often requires as many as fifteen minutes for its disappearance. But whenever a worm burrows to a depth of several feet in undisturbed compact ground, it must form its passage by swallowing the earth, for it is impossible that the ground could yield on all sides to the pressure of the pharynx when pushed forward within the worm's body. Great depths are reached only during continued dry weather and severe cold, the burrows sometimes attaining to a depth of from seven to eight feet. The burrows run down perpendicularly, or, more commonly, obliquely, and are sometimes said to branch. Generally, or invariably as I think, they are lined with fine, dark-colored earth voided by the worm, so that at first they must be made a little wider than their ultimate diameter. Little globular pellets of voided earth, still soft and viscid, often dot the walls of fresh burrows, and these are spread out on all sides by the worm as it travels up or down its burrow, the lining thus formed becoming very compact and smooth when nearly dry and closely fitting the worm's body. Ex- cellent points of support are thus afforded for the minute reflexed bristles which project in rows on all sides from the body, thus rendering the burrow well adapted for the rapid movement of the animal. The lining appears also to strengthen the walls, and perhaps saves the worm's body from being scratched, which would assuredly be the case when the burrows, as is occasionally observed, pass through a layer of sifted coal cinders. The burrows are thus seen to Earth- Worms in History. 67 be not mere excavations, but may be compared with tunnels lined with cement. Those which run far down into the ground generally, or at least frequently, terminate in little chambers, where one or several worms pass the winter rolled up into a ball. Small pebbles and seeds as large as grains of mustard are carried down from the surface by being swal- lowed or within the mouths of worms, as well as bits of glass and tile, whose only use in their winter-quarters seems to be the prevention of their closely coiled-up bodies from coming into contiguity with the surrounding cold soil, for such con- tact would perhaps interfere with their respiration, which is effected by the skin alone. After swallowing earth, whether for making its burrow or for food, the earth-worm soon comes to the surface to empty its body. The rejected matter is thoroughly mixed with the intestinal secretions, and is thus rendered viscid. After be- coming dried, it sets hard. When in a very liquid state the earth is thrown out in little spurts, and when not so liquid by a slow peristaltic movement of the intestine. It is not cast indifferently on any side, but first on one and then on another, the tail being used almost like a trowel. The little heap being formed the worm seemingly avoids, for the sake of safety, the use of its tail, the earthy matter being forced up through the previously deposited soft mass. The mouth of the same burrow is used for this purpose for a considerable time. When a worm comes to the surface to eject earth, the tail protrudes, but when it collects leaves its head must protrude, and thus worms must have the power of performing the difficult feat, as it seems to us, of turning round in their closely-fitting burrows. Worms do not always eject their castings upon the surface of the ground, for when burrowing in newly turned-up earth, or between the stems of banked-up plants, they deposit their castings in such places, and even hollows beneath large stems lying on the surface of the ground are filled up with their ejections. Old burrows collapse in time. The fine earth voided by worms, 68 Life and Immortality. if spread out uniformly, would form in many places a layer of one-fifth of an inch in thickness. But this large amount is not deposited within the old unused burrows. If the burrows did not collapse, the whole ground would be first thickly riddled with holes to the depth of ten inches or more, which in fifty years would grow into a hollow, unsup- ported place ten inches deep. Hardly any animal is more universally distributed than worms. The earth-worm is found in all parts of the world, and some of the genera have an enormous range. They inhabit the most isolated islands, abounding in Iceland, and also being known to exist in the West Indies, St. Helena, Madagascar, New Caledonia and Tahiti. Worms from Kergulen Land in the Antarctic regions have been described by Ray Lankester, and Darwin has reported them as being foun'd in the Falkland Islands. How they reach such isolated islands is quite unknown. They are easily killed by salt water, and it does not seem likely that young worms or their egg-capsules could be carried in earth adhering to the feet or beaks of land-birds, especially to Kergulen Land, for it is not now inhabited by any terrestrial bird. We have seen that worms are found in nearly every part of the globe, that they are very numerous, as many as 348,480 having been found in an acre of rich ground in New Zealand, and that by the peculiar economy of their nature they are fitted to accomplish a great deal of good in the earth. They have played a more important part in the history of the world than most persons would at first sup- pose. In many parts of England, according to Darwin, a weight of more than ten tons of dry earth annually passes through their bodies and is brought to the surface in each acre of land, so that the entire superficial bed of vegetable mould passes through their bodies in the course of every few years; and in most parts of the forests and pasture-lands of Southern Brazil, where several species of earth-worms abound, the whole soil to a depth of a quarter of a metre Earth- Worms in History. 69 looks as though it had passed through the intestines of worms, even where scarcely any castings are to be observed upon the surface. The upper crust is continually being eaten and ejected by them, thus aiding the fertility of the soil, as well as conveying water and air to the interior by the myriads of burrows which they drill. The vast quan- tities of leaves that they drag into their holes tend also to enrich the ground. Nor does their good end here. They cover up seeds, undermine rocks, burying them up, and to their labors is due the preservation of many ruins and ancient works of art. Numerous old-time Roman villas have been discovered beneath the ground in England, whose entombments were undoubtedly caused by the worms that undermined them and deposited their castings upon the floors, till finally, aided by other causes, they disappeared from sight. When a wide, turf-covered expanse of earth is beheld, we would do well to remember that its smoothness, upon which so much of its beauty depends, is largely due to all the inequalities having been slowly levelled by worms. That all the surface-mould of any such expanse has passed, and will again pass, every few years through the bodies of worms is a marvellous reflection, and one which should not be lightly dismissed from the mind. The most ancient, as well as one of the most valuable of man's inventions, is the plough. But long before man existed the land was in fact regularly ploughed, and still continues to be ploughed, by earth-worms. No other animal has played such a part in history as have these lowly-organized creatures. True it is that corals, which are still lower in the scale of animals, have performed more conspicuous work in the innumerable reefs and islands they have built in the great oceans, but their work is con- fined to the tropical zones, while that of the earth-worm is well-nigh universal. Verily it is by the little things in life that the Creator has erected the most stupendous monu- ments to show forth His infinite power and wisdom. AMONG our first acquaintances of the sea-shore are sure to be a number of merry little sprites which do not seem to have yet mastered the lesson of walking straight ahead. Their movements will be seen to be in a direction at right angles to that towards which the head points. It is a very interesting sight to watch these apparently one-sided creatures hurrying off in their lateral progression towards their burrows in the sand or mud, or in quest of food. Pass them, and you will be surprised to see how quickly some of them will reverse their motion, seemingly without so much as pausing to glance at their pursuer, their machinery appear- ing to have given out at one end, thus compelling them to reverse and travel back over their old courses. These little Fiddler- or Calling-crabs, as they are termed, are the most pronounced offenders against the commonly- accepted rule of proper walking. Scattered all over the salt marshes and mud-flats, at about high-water mark,, may be noted their burrows, which are about as large as a thrust made by an umbrella point, and from which can be frequently seen the little animal peeping forth, preparatory to making a sally. At another part of the flat, where the noise of your footsteps has. not given signals of danger, hundreds of crabblings are busy with their out-door occupa- tions. Draw near to them, and away they scamper to their dwellings, males and females intermingled promiscuously, the former recognizable by the undue development of one of the claws, which is carried transversely in front of the head. When the animal is provoked, this claw is brandished in a Fiddler- and Hermit- Crabs. 7 I somewhat menacing manner, which has been likened by some to the pulling of a violin bow, and by others to the action of beckoning or calling, and hence the names which have been applied to these eccentric creatures. Have you a desire for a more intimate knowledge of the animal, take him up by the big claw, and you can now examine him without the least fear of incurring the proofs of his displeasure. Two bead-like, compound eyes, sup- ported on long stalks, which can be readily withdrawn into the protecting shield of the carapace, will be observed. From the manner of this support, which allows 'of vision in almost every direction, the name of stalk-eyed crustaceans has been given to the group in which this structure is found. The two pairs of feelers, which you see in front of the eyes, are known as antennae and antennules. They are of peculiar interest, for, aside from acting as feelers, they subserve the functions of smelling and hearing, the auditory apparatus being lodged in the base of the smaller pair. There are ten feet, and this is a character of importance, as it is a feature distinctive of the ten-footed, or decapod, crustaceans. At first sight it appears that the animal is devoid of a tail, but if you turn him over upon his back you will find a very short one tucked safely under the body. A comparison of our study of this crab with that of the lobster or cray-fish will show that the tail, or, more properly, the abdomen, is stretched out beyond the body proper, and that the elonga- tion is in proportion to the length of the animal. Two dis- tinct groups of ten-legged, stalk-eyed crustaceans are thus recognized, namely: the short-tailed forms, or crabs, and the opposite, or long-tailed forms, to which the lobster and shrimp belong, the hermit-crabs constituting an intermediate type. Two species of the Fiddler, considerably resembling each other in color and ornamentation, are to be found upon our Atlantic Coast. The more common form, Gelasimus vocator, has a smooth, shining carapace, while that of Gelasimus minax is finely granulated and in part tuberculated, the back 72 Life and Immortality. of both appearing impressed with a figure very similar to the letter H. The latter, which appears to be a vegetable feeder, is the larger, its burrows not infrequently measuring one .and a half inches in diameter. Estuarine regions, in close proximity to fresh water, rather than the tidal flats, are its habitat, and, in truth, it seems to be able to get along for weeks, and even months, without any absolute need of salt water. FIDDLER-CRABS. Two Males Fighting for a Female. In the excavation of their homes the Fiddlers throw up the pellets of moist earth by means of their anterior walking legs, depositing their burden usually at some little distance from the mouth of the burrow. As winter approaches, the domiciliary apertures are closed up, and the famine of win- ter is spent in a state of torpidity. With the advent of spring they come forth from their brumal retreats, and soon concern themselves with the duties incident to the propagation of their kind. Two males are Fiddler- and Hermit- Crabs. 73 often observed contending in the fiercest manner for the pos- session of a female. They strike with the formidable claw most powerful blows, and I have often seen an opponent so completely claw-locked as to be unutterly unable to make any determined resistance. These contests last a long while, and finally conclude with the complete vanquishment of one or the other of the fighting parties, one or both sustaining at times some severe injury as the loss of an eye-peduncle or the joint of a limb. All the while the battle is waging, the female is a silent, passive spectator, and generally allies herself with the successful competitor for her affections. Even during the summer season, when the cares of brood- raising no longer command and enslave the attention of the female, these combats are still indulged in by the males, growing out of, as it would seem, the lingering smarts of old animosities festering in the memory. While these car- cinological lords of the sea-side are eminently fitted for the sparring business, the whole physiognomy of their smaller, weaker partners bespeaks a life in which broils can have no part, a life devoted to peaceful and domestic pursuits. Differing widely in structure and habits from the Calling- crabs, and affecting watery situations near the shore, are to be found the Hermit-crabs. These sprightly little animals, which are usually of small size, and have truly habits of their own, that stamp them at once as being original and distinct- ive, are a source of never-failing delight to the student of nature. They derive their name, as is well known, from the seclusion into which they cast themselves as the inhabitants of the shells of other animals, but it is probably not gener- ally known, however, that the rights of tenantry are often- times exercised in the most arbitrary manner. Not always satisfied with a dead shell, the Hermit-crab has been seen to raid upon a living possessor and attempt to drag him from his home, in which operation the assailant is often assisted by a number of his fellows, each bearing with him his castle as defensive armor. True, the attack is probably made in 74 Life and Immortality. many instances for the purpose of getting possession of the enemy as well as his belongings, and, however this may be, forcible possession is by them considered no mis- demeanor. The body of the Hermit-crab, in the greater number of species, is unprovided with a carapace, and, being soft and liable to injury, the animal is compelled to seek shelter usually in a snail-shell, winding himself about the coils, to the inner extremity of which he attaches himself by his modified posterior feet. So securely is he now intrenched that it is only with difficulty he can be withdrawn, retracting himself as he does further and further within cover of the shell. A sudden fracture of the apex of the shell, under which appears to be the most delicate part of the animal's body, will generally effect a speedy dislodgment, the fright- ened Crab dropping from the aperture. With his progressive development in size the Hermit requires frequent changes of abode. His methods in secur- ing a new habitation are among the most interesting of his life. He is very circumspect in his movements, and will make several reconnoissances before he is fully satisfied with the conditions of his prospective home, retiring after each visit to the old shell. Like many bipeds, he has his first of May, and so he goes house-hunting. He finds a shell. Will it do ? He examines it within, feelingly if not courteously, to see whether it is to let. Satisfied on this point, he turns it over, then turns it round, to know if it will suit, the weight of the house being quite an item in the reckoning to one who is to carry it upon his back. All things being right, his mind is made up to move, and quickly, too, at that, lest he miss his chance through some more active fellow house-hunter who is on the alert. Out comes the body from the old house, and pop it goes into the new. The resolution to move, the surrender of the old house, and the occupancy of the new, were all effected within a fraction of a second of time. Fiddler- and Hermit- Crabs. 75 WARTY HERMIT-CRABS. One at Home, the Other House-Hunting. But the matter does not always go on pleasantly. Two house-hunters may find the same tenement. Should they both desire it, then comes the tug of war. Dwell together they neither can nor will. Recourse is had to battle, in which the stronger proves his claim right by the rule of might. In these encounters terrible mutilations quite often occur. As. an offset to all this bad feeling and bloodshed, it is a sad sight to see the little Hermit when his time comes to die. However droll his career may have been, he is now very grave, for he knows he must part with life and all its joys and pleasures. Who can explain the strange fact ? The poor little fellow comes out of his house to die. Yes, to die. To us humans home is the only fit place to die in, but to Eu- pagurus it has no attractions at this solemn time. Poor fellow ! With a sad look and a melancholy movement he quits of his own will the house for which he fought so well. Those feelers that often stood out so provokingly, and that were quite as often poked into everybody's business, now lie prone and harmless ; the eyes have lost their pertness, 76 Life and Immortality. and dead, stone dead, the houseless Hermit lies upon that moss-covered rock. There are two species of Hermit-crab occurring on our coast, which are readily distinguishable from each other by their size and the difference in the shape of the big claw. Eupagurus pollicavis, the Warty Hermit, is the larger species. He inhabits the shells of the big Naticas and the Fulgurs, and can be easily recognized by his coarse, broad claws, which close up in great part the aperture of the shell which he occupies. In the more common form, Eupagurus longicar- pus, which seldom attains a length exceeding an inch, the legs are all much elongated, giving the animal a very slender appearance. SIMPLE nests and tubes are all the majority of spiders construct for their homes. The larger and better known webs for catching insects are made by comparatively few species. He who is astir in the grass-fields on damp sum- mer mornings, will everywhere see innumerous flat webs, from an inch or two to a foot in diameter, which weather- wise folks consider prognostic of a fair day. These webs may always be found upon the grass at the proper season, but only become visible from a distance when the dew is upon them, making the earth appear as covered by an almost continuous carpet of silk. By far the greater number of these nests is of the form which is termed funnel-webs, which consist of a concave sheet of silk, constituted of strong threads, crossed by finer ones, which the author spins with the long hind-spinnerets, swinging them from side to side, and laying down a band of threads at each stroke, the many hundred threads extending in all directions to the supporting spears of grass. The web is so close and tight that the footsteps of the spider can be distinctly heard by the attentive, listening ear as she runs hither and thither over its scarcely bending surface. At one side of the web is a tube, leading down among the grass- stems, which serves as a hiding-place for the owner of the web. Here, at the top, and just out of sight, the spider ordinarily stands, waiting for something to light upon the web, when she eagerly rushes out, seizing the prey-unluckily caught and carrying it into her tube to eat. If too formida- ble an insect comes upon the web, she turns herself round, 78 Life and Immortality. beating a precipitate retreat out of the lower end of her funnel and soon is lost beneath the mesh of enveloping and interlacing grasses. Where favorably located, these webs remain through the entire season, and are enlarged, as the spider grows, by addi- tions on the outer edges, and are supported by threads run- ning up into the neighboring plants. Sometimes the webs are built in close proximity to a stone partially imbedded in the earth, the bottom of the funnel opening slightly under- neath the stone, which secures to the spider a convenient harbor in case of threatening danger. Agalenidae, as our funnel-web weavers are called, are long-legged, brown spiders, in which the head part of the cephalo-thorax is higher than the thoracic part, and dis- tinctly separated from it by grooves or marks at the sides. The eyes are usually in two rows, but in Agalena the middle eyes of both rows are much higher than the others. The feet have three claws, and the posterior pairs of spinnerets are two-jointed and usually longer than the others. Agalena n