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seizure by the tentacles, or by agitating the cilia, like the flagellata,
and thus whipping the nourishment towards the mouth, as children
will draw in a toy boat to land by agitating the water in the given
direction. These cilia, or hairs, serve for organs of locomotion as well
as of capture. These creatures are called Infusoria, because they
exist in vegetable “infusions” exposed to the atmosphere.
Decaying vegetable or animal
substances, such as the leaves of
trees, grass, a piece of flesh, etc.,
affused with water and exposed to air
and warmth, will speedily, upon
microscopic examination, be found
peopled with numbers of most active
minute creatures of the most varied
forms. These animalcules are found
also in the stagnant pools around our
cities, in the waters of rivers, harbours,
and lakes, and even in the ocean.
In reference to the origin of these
animalcules, the view was long
entertained that they were generated
spontaneously, that the decaying
vegetable and animal substances were
decomposed and resolved into these
simple beings. More accurate
experiments have shown, however, Fig. 830.—Structure of
that the infusoria are produced from polypidoms.
ova, or germs, which are probably
carried about in the dried-up state, in the form of minute particles of
dust,39 ready to develop themselves in any spot which may afford
them the requisite moisture and nutriment. In this respect they
resemble the microscopic fungi, whose germs are diffused in the
same way. When once they have obtained the means of
development, they multiply with incredible celerity. If the decaying
vegetable or animal substances be carefully excluded from contact
with the air, or if the air be heated before it is admitted to them, no
infusoria will appear. They are rarely developed on mountains of a
certain height, where the atmosphere is free from foreign bodies.
Though these animalcules are so
exceedingly minute, yet the forms exhibited
by them are extremely various, and some
of them present also considerable variety in
the forms assumed by the same individual
under different circumstances. In many
species the soft body is enclosed in a firm
Fig. 831.—Volvox globator. integument, strengthened by a deposit of
siliceous matter; these envelopes, which
are often preserved after the death of the animals, are termed the
shields, and the animalcules encased in them are called loricated
infusoria. The remarkable discovery has been made that large
distinct beds of former formations are entirely made up of the
accumulated remains of these animalcules.
We arrive at the Hydrozoa after leaving the Infusoria, and find
ourselves in the sea, and far from land, where it will be difficult for
us to ascertain the characteristics of these interesting animals. But
fortunately we can obtain much nearer home, and occasionally in a
private aquarium, a specimen of the hydrozoa which will serve our
purpose, as it has served before to introduce readers to the study of
these water-polypes, some of which are so like plants that they are
frequently mistaken for them.
The hydrozoa present a “definite histological structure,” says
Professor Huxley; “the body always exhibits a separation into at least
two distinct layers of tissue, an outer and an inner.” The Hydras, or
fresh-water polypes, which may be found in nearly every pond
adhering to the duckweed, appears like tubes, and if touched will
curl up into tiny knobs. But if let alone they will adhere to a glass by
their single foot, or sucker, which can be moved at pleasure.
The foot, or sucker, is continued to a slender
cylindrical stalk, from the end of which radiate a
number of tentacles, or “feelers,” growing
around the mouth, and serving to convey or
attract food to the animal which is, so to speak,
all stomach. There is no breathing apparatus,
and what food it cannot digest is expelled from
the mouth. The peculiarity which has given the
hydra its name is, that no matter into how many
pieces you cut this polype, the parts cut off will
all develop into little polypes perfect as their
Fig. 832.—The hydra.
parent.40 But germination is carried on naturally
by buds thrown out, and cast (by “gemmation”),
or by the ordinary sexual production of ova.
The outer and inner skins of the hydra are called the ectoderm and
endoderm, and the animal is quite capable of locomotion, walking,
or rather moving, backwards, by raising and planting its sucker or
foot, and by swimming. The prey is captured by the tentacles and by
the darting out of tiny spears from the cells or “thread cells” which
contain them on the surface of the body. The well-known
“Portuguese man-of-war,” an ocean polype, has these “harpoons”
greatly developed, and can inflict serious pain as of many stinging
nettles; the sensation is exceedingly painful, and lasts some time.
The Medusidæ are known to the seaside visitor as the jelly-fish, and
the other Acalephæ, the “hidden-eyed” medusæ, include the
Portuguese man-of-war mentioned above, and many other umbrella-
like animals. They have received the name of medusæ from Medusa,
whose long, snaky locks the tentacles of the animals are supposed
to be like. Some of these “floating umbrellas” are very dangerous,
and will inflict severe stings upon any one in their vicinity. The
tentacles or filaments extend for a long distance, and bathers should
be cautious. We have often watched them, and they are beautiful to
contemplate particularly at night, and in Kingstown Harbour, near
Dublin, many exceedingly fine specimens have been obtained. The
pulsation of the “umbrella” or bell, enables
the animal to swim, and the even
undulations of this beautiful covering are
apparently caused by nervous contractions.
The jelly-fish have no resemblance to “fish,”
and scarcely appear to exist; they are of no
use to man, and when removed from the
water dwindle by little and little to a tiny
film and nothing more—they dissolve into
air and water. Cases have been known and
tales told of how farmers collected
hundreds of these jelly-fish for manure, and
when the cart reached the field, to the Fig. 833.—Medusa.
man’s astonishment, nothing was left but
what appeared cobweb in the place of the
load of fish.
The Cyclippe is a very common specimen, and moves by means of
its cilia; Cestum Veneris—the zone or girdle of Venus—is another
curious example. It appears like a glass ribbon about five inches
wide and perhaps four or five feet long. The cilia when in motion are
very brilliant in colouring, and the creature undulates through the
water in a remarkable manner.
The luminosity of the medusæ is clearly perceived, the so-called
phosphorescence being due chiefly to the minute jelly-fish which
abound near the surface of the sea. It appears impossible, for most,
at any rate, if not all, these medusæ to sink beneath the surface, for
they can be found in hundreds cast ashore, melting away into film.
We might imagine that they would be provided with some means of
sinking themselves, but being apparently only air and water, it is
necessary for them to remain upon the surface to exist at all.
 Fig. 834.—Sea cucumber.

The term Acalephæ, by which they are known, means “stinging” fish
or sea-nettles, the Greek word meaning nettle.
The Actinozoa comprise corals and the popular sea anemones
(actinidæ). They resemble the hydrozoa in possessing tentacles, and
also the two inner and outer tissues of the body. But they differ from
the hydrozoa in their interior arrangement in the possession of a
kind of stomach between the “body cavity” and the mouth which the
hydrozoa do not possess. The appearance of the sea anemone is
well known. It fixes itself by the flat base and hangs out its tentacles
to obtain food. When we touch an anemone with a stick we perceive
how it contracts itself, but there is no nervous system nor any
respiration. The reproduction of its species is carried on within, not
as in other animals, like the hydra, by exterior budding.
The corals belong to the same class as the
sea anemones, and are called zoanthidæ.
We have already in previous portions of this
volume mentioned the “coral” building
polypes, but we may again describe them
here. We have the black coral or
antipathidæ, which live in masses and are
united by a stem. They grow upon this
fleshy trunk and cover it in time “just as a
 Fig. 835.—Coral. trunk of a tree is covered by the bark.” This
stem is called a cænosarc, which secretes
the coral, or skeleton. The madrepores are the greatest producers of
the coral of commerce.
“If we examine a simple coral of this
group,” says Professor Nicholson, “we
find that we have to deal with an animal
in all important respects identical with
an ordinary sea anemone, but having a
more or less complicated skeleton
developed in its interior.” This skeleton is
the corallum, and it is composed, as
Fig. 836.—Coral.
most people are aware, of calcareous
matter deposited within the polype
itself; in the former case the development or formation is exterior to
the polype. A single polype will thus secrete a deposit, and a colony
of them produce a compound skeleton, and as they throw out buds
or young polypes, the manufacture of skeletons goes on by
secretion.
The Tubipores are like pipes, and the coral has been termed the
“organ-pipe.” It is formed cylindrically and joined externally. As
under Geology we have examined the question of coral reefs, we
need not here recapitulate the descriptions given in that section.
Doctor Bariel writes of these animals as follows:
—“By far the greater part of the Zoanthoid polypes,
as they grow, deposit in the cellular substance of the
flesh of their back an immense quantity of
calcareous matter which enlarges as the animal
increases in size, and, in fact, fills up those portions
of the substance of the animal, which by the growth
of new parts are no longer wanted for its
nourishment, and in this manner they form a hard
and strong case, amongst the folds of which they
contract themselves so as to be protected from
Fig. 837.—Coral.external injury, and by the same means they form
for themselves a permanent attachment which
prevents their being tossed about by every wave of the element in
which they live. The stony substances so formed are called corals,
and their mode of formation causes them exactly to represent the
animal which secretes them. The upper surface is always furnished
with radiating plates, the remains of the calcareous particles which
are deposited in the longitudinal folds of the stomach.”
 CHAPTER LV.
ECHINODERMATA—ANNULOSA—ENTOZOA—
INSECTA.

SEA-URCHINS—STAR-FISHES—FEATHERY STARS—SEA-CUCUMBERS
—WORMS—LEECHES—ROTIFERS—TAPE WORMS—INSECTS.
The Echinodermata or spiny-skinned, are most commonly represented
by the sea-urchins and star-fishes of our coasts. In some of the
classes locomotion is performed by means of these spines or
prickles, which serve as legs. In others, movement is carried on by
suckers and tubes as in the star-fishes, these tubes being also the
means whereby the animal obtains its food.

Fig. 838.—Sea-urchin (echinus), with and without spines.

They have a digestive system, and possess a curiously horny skin

even when spines are absent. The mouth is in the centre. We give
an illustration of the sea-urchin, and of a section of a spine, which is
a beautiful object when seen under the microscope, for these spines
can be made quite transparent when cut across and ground. The
shelly covering is porous, and as the animal grows the shell is added
to at the edges. Underneath will be found the mouth, which has
teeth fitted for devouring the small crustacea. These sea-urchins
abound, and their porous shells may be picked up frequently after a
storm.
The star-fishes are well known to all searchers amongst the rocks
and those who study the shore, and are often taken home for an
aquarium. They are very voracious, however, and when one is
examined in a glass of sea-water, the observer will detect many
suckers protruding from each of the rays. It is by means of these
suckers, which are put forth from innumerable little holes called
“ambulacral apertures,” that the star-fish makes his way up the rocks
and along the ocean bed. The stomach of the star-fish is extensive,
and situated in the centre of the rays wherein is a digestive
apparatus. The rays are composed of detached but beautifully fitted
pieces, so united as to be flexible, and around the mouth and in
strong frame-work. The star-fish has no teeth, but manages to
dispose of a vast quantity of matter, which if left alone would be
injurious in decay.
Thus Nature has provided a shore scavenger to devour what would
be harmful, just as the vulture on land eats the carrion. Besides this
kind of refuse food, the star-fish eats small crustaceans, and oysters
fall victims to him. By embracing the shell the star-fish manages to
insert itself, and if it cannot bring the oyster out to its mouth, it will
quietly turn out its mouth into the oyster-shell, and save the bivalve
any trouble in the matter. Some writers declare that the star-fish
stupefies or poisons its victim, and then the shell opens. These
asteroidea can reproduce a ray that has been injured or cut off, or
they can break themselves to pieces if caught.
The brittle stars and feather stars appertain to the order of the
Ophiuroida or “serpent-armed,” because the rays are more flexible
and thin than the common star-fish. But they differ very much from
the star-fish in the arrangement, as well as in the shape of their
arms. The former possesses rays which form an appendage of the
stomach and enclose it. In the brittle stars the rays are limbs, and
could be detached without taking the life of the animal, except in so
far as to deprive it of means to obtain its food. The body is quite
independent of the rays, the mouth
occupying the centre, and is
surrounded by minute suckers. The
stars are much more flexible than the
star-fishes, their rays are longer, and
serve either as feet, fins, tentacles, or
arms.
The crinoids also belong to the
Echinodermata, and resemble plants Fig. 839.—Spine of echinus (a,
more than star-fish. They are fixed natural size; b, a section
magnified).
upon a stalk like a flower, growing
upright from the sea-bottom, and the
body is called a calyx, which is composed of a ventral and dorsal
surface. The arms branch out from the calyx, just as a small tree
does, and if we can imagine one of the last planted trees on the
Thames embankment reduced to half a finger’s length or less, we
have a sort of idea of the crinoid “in the rough.”
A polype supported on a stem branching out in feathery, grassy-
looking arms represents the Encrinites, the remains of which are
found as fossils. The arms of the crinoids are subdivided, and quite a
flowery crown may in time result. The animal obtains its food by the
motion of cilia. The stem and the branches are jointed, as it were,
and capable of flexible movement in any direction. The crinoids
remain stationary during their lives.
The care taken by the star-fish of its young is remarkable. It carries
the eggs about in its suckers and with great caution. The young
remain attached to the mother until they are able to go about alone,
and then the physical attachments die off, and the asteroidea goes
forth to seek its fortune in the sea.
The echinus, already mentioned, is a most elaborately constructed
animal; the plates being secreted from the soft parts are ever being
renewed as the animal gets older and larger. The whole subject is
well worth a long independent study, of which it is here impossible
for us to give the results.
The sea-cucumbers are more like the familiar garden slug than any
other animal, and are surmounted by a fringe round the mouth
which looks like leaves. The surface is moist, and has no horny
covering like the “urchin,” or star fish, but the suckers are present
and are used for locomotion. The tentacles round the mouth serve
as prehensile organs. The “alimentary canal” is most curiously
curved, and of great length, and the animal can turn itself “inside
out” with great facility if alarmed. It possesses a kind of breathing
apparatus, and may be classed as the most highly organized of all
the Echinodermata. These cucumbers are much esteemed by the
Chinese, and “trepang,” as they are called, are caught by thousands
in Australian waters.
Annulosa.
The worm-like animals are divided into sections, which include
intestinal worms, entozoa, annelida, and crustacea, with the worms,
spiders, and insects classed in each section. We may at once
perceive what a very extensive division the Annulosa is, and we
must devote some space to it.
The Rotifers, or “wheel animalculæ,”
are included in this class; they stand
almost alone, and certainly invisible to
the naked eye. They are very curious
animals, as will be seen from the
accompanying illustration. The motion
of the cilia around the mouth gives the
whirling movement from which their
name is derived (fig. 841).
Fig. 840.—Earth worm
(lumbricus terrestris), leech The Annelides, or worms, include earth-
(hirudo medicinale). worms, water-worms, leeches, etc.
The appearance of the earth-worm is
so common that few people comparatively studied it until Mr.
Darwin’s book took the amateur reader by surprise and delighted
him, and to that volume we must refer our readers for details of
these very interesting animals, termed annelides because of the
rings appearing upon their bodies.
The common leech is well known in medicine. It is curiously enough
an inhabitant of ponds and lakes, and in such conditions has no
opportunities for tasting the warm blood for which it develops such a
liking when opportunity offers. This is really a remarkable fact, that
the animal should be placed in a position naturally in which its most
natural tendencies should remain unsatisfied.
The progression of the leech is performed by undulating movements
and the prehensile action of the suckers—head and tail. The eyes
are ten in number, near the mouth and at the top of the head. The
mouth is furnished with numerous tri-radiate teeth, but in some
leeches they are not sharp, as in the “medicinal” variety. It is known
that both sexes are represented in every leech, but they are not self-
reproductive.
The earth-worm, so familiar to all, has been lately raised into
importance. It lives in clay, and bores its way through the ground. It
feeds upon organic matter contained in the earth, and when it has
assimilated the nourishing particles, it ejects the remainder in small
heaps of soft dirt, which are visible after rain particularly. The worm,
by its burrowing, turns up the land, and vastly increases its fertility.

Fig. 841.—Wheel animalcule (rotifer vulgaris).

The earth-worm in its outer structure resembles the leech, but, as

any one will at once perceive, the worm is not furnished with
suckers by which it can assist itself to move. Instead of these
rounded terminals the worm is finely pointed, and thus capable of
boring its way through the earth. Progression is accomplished by
moving first the head portion and then the next, so that a regular
series of movements is necessary. The minute spines or bristles of
the worm prevent its body being retracted by muscular effort.
The vital organs are rather forward of the centre of the body, and so
if a worm be cut behind them it will survive and reproduce a tail. But
the portion cut off will not be found alive, nor is it capable of forming
a new perfect worm as generally supposed.
There are many other orders of worms which we can only indicate—
viz., the Tubicolæ which surround themselves with a hard case; the
Errantia, or sea-worms, sand-worms, etc., like the lobworm used for
bait, and the naiads of our fresh-water ponds, all of which are suited
to the aquatic life they lead. Indeed, of all the annelides, the earth-
worm is the only specimen that is suited for living upon land. As
regards the last mentioned, we may add that worms do not prey
upon dead bodies as is so generally imagined. They are vegetable
feeders, and do not burrow very deeply.
The transparent condition of the Rotifers renders them easy of
observation under the microscope, and we find a nervous system,
intestines, and a developed stomach. They are fresh-water
inhabitants.
The Entozoa or “intestinal” worms claim a brief notice at our hands.
The entozoa are those beings which inhabit, as parasites, the
intestines and other parts of animals. Their history is still obscure,
but there seems to be about twenty varieties of these creatures, and
a great number of animals have their peculiar entozoa. The best
known in the human subject are the “Ascaris” or thread-worm, the
“Lumbricus Teres” or long-worm, and the “Tænia” or tape-worm; this
last is jointed, and grows to several yards in length.
The development of these Tænia is one of the most curious
performances of nature. Each of the joints shown in the illustration
below (fig. 842) is a perfected and mature proglottis, containing the
ova or eggs, which can only be brought to perfection when
swallowed by a warm-blooded animal (not the same from which
they emanated). The head within the embryo then holds to the
tissues and penetrates to the alimentary canal, where only it can
redevelop joints from the so-called head, which has no organs and
merely pushes out immature joints which are continued, and they
become more mature the farther they are pushed out by the new
ones. The “measles” of the pig are produced by the ova of these
worms.

Fig. 842.—Tape worm (proglottides).

Myriapoda.
The “many-footed” annulosa include the centipedes and millipedes,
and may be regarded as a connecting link between the worms and
the insects. The heads of these animals are distinct from the body.
The millipedes can be any day found under a large stone in a field
which has not been tilled, or any place where a stone has been
suffered to remain for some time undisturbed. These specimens are
of the pill-millipede order, because they roll themselves up into a ball
when disturbed. The myriapods of this country are not of large
dimensions, but in tropical climates they attain a great size. The
giant centipede has been found in South America more than a foot
long, and is capable of inflicting severe wounds, its tenacity being
extraordinary and equalling that of the bull-dog when once it has
gripped its enemy.
The myriapods have no wings; they possess antennæ, and
numerous, never less than eighteen, feet,—frequently twenty pairs,
but never a thousand, much less “ten thousand” feet, as the class
name indicates. They are provided with strong forceps or “foot-
jaws,” which supply a poison for killing their enemies. The millipedes
and centipedes are known scientifically as Iulidæ and Scolopendridæ
respectively, and in most points of internal arrangement resemble
insects, such as breathing by spiracles or (stomates), and trachæ or
tubes. Some of the centipedes possess electric qualities, and can
administer a shock to an opponent.
Insecta.
Insects inhabit the world around us in myriad forms in air and earth
and water. Some exist for a very brief space in the air; others live
under water, or in trees, or in the ground; some burrow and hide in
chinks of rocks and under stones. The numbers are countless, and
all have some function to perform as palpably as the busy honey-
bee, or as mysteriously as the giddy, careless butterfly.
 Fig. 843.—Anatomy of the external skeleton of an insect.

Insects are divided into three distinct parts,—viz., the head, the
thorax, and the abdomen, and each of these parts has a pair of legs
attached to it, as will be perceived from the accompanying diagram.
Along the body are tubes called trachæ,—for insects do not breathe
by lungs,—by which the air is carried into the system of the insect,
by the “spiracles” or openings of fine network, to prevent dust
entering the air-passages. The head is joined to the body by a
constricted neck, the part of the body to which it is joined is called
the thorax, and to this is added the posterior part or abdomen; this
part is extremely various in form in different insects; in some it is
round and full, in others long and extended. The antennæ arise from
the head, and are generally composed of eleven pieces variously
disposed; these wonderful organs are possessed of great sensibility,
and they certainly serve to convey information to the insect, of the
nature of one of the special senses; it was formerly thought to be
simply that of touch very much refined, or of smell, but it is now
generally considered to be that of hearing, or a modification of it.
The forms of the antennæ are very various; fig. 845 represents that
of the cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris). The legs proceed from the
thorax as do the wings, the abdomen giving rise to none of the
extremities; the feet of insects are all pretty much upon the same
model, some being more developed than others, they have a pair of
hooks or claws for catching and clinging to rough surfaces, and a
pair of cushions or pads, covered in some cases with suckers.
The foot of the
common house-fly is
most beautifully
fitted for its
progression and
Fig. 844.—Spiracle. support. We have
often wondered how
the fly manages to
support itself back downwards on the
ceiling, or walk up glass. We give a cut
of the fly’s foot (fig. 846). Fig. 845.—Antenna of
cockchafer (melolontha
The eyes of insects are also vulgaris).
marvellous. There are only two, but
each one is composed of numerous cells (ocelli), and look like a
honey-comb. (See illustration, fig. 847.)
 Fig. 846.—Foot of fly, magnified.

Fig. 847.—Compound eye. 1. Perpendicular section; 2. Surface.

Insects swarm in innumerable companies, and no one who has not

seen the locusts descending upon the earth can form more than a
faint idea of the devastation they occasion in an incredibly short
time. These, as well as thousands of other insects, exist in myriads,
and we must content ourselves, on this occasion, by merely noting
the different orders and their characteristics, after we have
mentioned some of the attributes common to all.
The term “insect” means cut into or divided, and so the insecta are
divided, as already mentioned, into three parts,—head, thorax, and
abdomen,—the thorax being subdivided into three rings, pro-thorax,
meso-thorax, and meta-thorax—beginning, middle, and end. All
insects have six legs, and usually two or four wings, though some
have no wings at all. The legs are united to the thorax, the antennæ
and eyes to the head. The abdomen contains the important sexual
organs, a sting or defensive weapon, and in females the egg
chamber.
Insects breathe by tubes in the sides, and consume a great quantity
of air. Their powers of flying and leaping are too familiar to need
dwelling upon. The wings display beautiful colours like those
observable in the soap-bubble, others are covered with scales or
hairs. The mouths vary very much with the species, as the manner
of obtaining food is by suction or gnawing. The blood of insects is
pale and thin.
The various transformations which insects undergo are always a
subject of interest for the young student. The ugly forms which
develop in beautiful creations are more astonishing than the change
of the “ugly duckling” into the graceful swan.

Fig. 848.—Larva.
Fig. 849.—Pupa.

Insects come to maturity only after undergoing successive changes

from the egg to the perfect animal. The eggs (some of which are
very beautiful) are first deposited in some safe place, either attached
to a leaf or tied up in a small bundle by silken threads spun by the
parent insect, and in some nutritious substance, so that when it
comes to life it may at once have food; this is sometimes in manure,
sometimes in flesh, and sometimes under the skin of a living animal
(few are exempt from this infliction), where they remain for a time
and then come forth as maggots, caterpillars, etc.; in this state they
are called larvæ,—these are generally active creatures and eat most
voraciously, which seems to be the principal act of this state of their
existence. These larvæ frequently change their skins as they grow,
and at last they assume the next stage of their life, the pupa or
chrysalis state, which is one generally of complete inactivity; many
of these larvæ weave themselves a covering of a sort of silk, to
defend them while in the pupa state,—such as the silkworm, whose
covering (cocoon) is the source of all the silk of commerce,—others
merely place themselves in a situation of security. The pupa remains
dormant for a certain time, and then becomes the imago or perfect
insect (the last state of its existence), such as a moth, a butterfly, a
beetle, etc. These are of different sexes, and in due time produce a
batch of eggs and then die; these eggs are often incredible in
numbers, amounting to many thousands—but few escape the
watchful eyes of other insects and of birds who feed upon them.
But there are some of the insecta which do not undergo
metamorphosis; the Aptera or wingless insects include these, as the
flea and such parasites which bore into other animals, and deposit
their eggs within them.
Insects have very little means for
making themselves audible, at least so
far as can be ascertained. The
humming of bees and flies and other
insects are, of course, not intended to
represent the voice. The cricket’s
“chirp,” as people commonly imagine,
but the sound is attributable to the
Fig. 850.—Imago. rubbing together of the wings or wing-
cases, as is the noise produced by the
field-cricket. There is a very peculiar
sound attributable to the “Death-Watch,” a ticking, and to nervous
people terrible warning of dissolution. It may reassure some one,
perhaps, to know that this “unearthly sound” is caused simply by the
insect beating its head against a piece of wood to attract its mate,
as the female glow-worm lights her lamp to guide her lord to her
bower.
The Insecta may simply be divided into nine orders:—
 1 Coleoptera. Beetle tribe. Case-winged.
2 Orthoptera. Locusts, crickets, etc. Straight-winged.
3 Neuroptera. Dragon-flies, etc. Nerve-winged.
4 Hymenoptera. Bees, ants, wasps, etc. Membrane-winged.
5 Strepsiptera. Parasites of the foregoing. Twisted-winged.
6 Lepidoptera. Moths and butterflies. Scale-winged.
7 Hemiptera. Bugs, water-boatmen. Half-winged.
8 Diptera. House-fly, gnat. Two-winged.
9 Apraniptera. Fleas, “chigos.” Wingless.
(Of these the metamorphoses of 1, 3, 4, 6, and 8 are complete).

The Coleoptera are well represented in

England as beetles. They have four
wings, but the outer pair serve as
coverings to the inner ones. They are
termed Elytra, and are horny in
texture. These beetles are short-lived,
but useful as scavengers, and serve to
manure the ground by burying
objectionable matter. The larvæ of
Fig. 851.—The Stag-Beetle
beetles eat tremendously. The stag- (Lucanus cervus).
beetle is a formidable-looking animal,
and the lady-bird is well known as an
enemy to the aphides on our rose trees. The tiger-beetle,
cockchafer, and various water-beetles belong to this family. The
scarabee, or sacred Egyptian beetle, also will be found classed with
the coleoptera. Many of these beetles are excellent scavengers, and
some called burying beetles remove the soil underneath the carcases
of birds and other small dead animals, letting them fall down below
the ground level; the beetles then lay their eggs in the body, so that
sustenance may be at hand for the young when hatched.
The Orthoptera include our cockroaches, miscalled “black beetles,”
the locusts, crickets, etc. The ravages of the locust are well known.
The larvæ of the orthoptera has no wings, but otherwise is very like
the grown insect. They change their skins frequently before they
become perfect insects.
Passing the “nerve-winged” dragon-flies and caddis, whose larvæ
case is so familiar and useful as bait, we come to the very important
and interesting order of Hymenoptera, with four membranous wings.
In this rank we find bees, wasps, and ants, the first and last named
being proverbial for industry and examples of almost superhuman
reasoning powers, and a similitude to man’s arrangements in labour
and house-building marvellous to contemplate. A study of the habits
of ants, bees, and wasps will reveal a state of society existing
amongst them which more nearly resembles man in feelings and
habits, for these insects possess means of oral communication.
All these insects are armed with a
sting, or other offensive weapon. The
ant possesses the “formic” acid, which
derives its name from the possessor.
The destructive white ants will eat
away a wooden house very quickly,
sapping and mining it in all directions
till it is a mere skeleton. The habits of
bees are so well known and have been
so often described that we need not
detail them. The manner in which the
ants “milk” the aphides is curious and
interesting.
The
Strepsipte Fig. 852.—Honey-lapping
apparatus of wild sea-bee
ra order
(Halictus), (a, magnified; a
includes b, more highly magnified).
very few
species,
so we may pass quickly to the
Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths,
whose beautiful colourings and
markings have attracted us all from
childhood. There are about 12,000
 Fig. 853.—Scales from moth’sspecies of the lepidoptera, and they
wing (magnified).
are divided into “moths” and
“butterflies,” the former being seen in
twilight, or darkness, the latter in sunlight. They can readily be
distinguished by the antennæ, those of the butterfly being tipped, or
knobbed. The silkworm belongs to this family. These insects undergo
complete metamorphosis. The remaining two orders of insects
include the house-flies and gnats; and the flea, and jigger, or chigo,
which penetrates the skin and lays its eggs in the flesh, causing
thereby dangerous inflammation.
Crustacea.
This class includes a number of
familiar animals such as the barnacle,
the crab, the lobster, shrimp, etc.; and
curious as it may appear are closely
related to our spiders. Their cases or
coverings are all articulated or
disposed in distinct segments. They
breathe through gills or by tubes, and
possess legs, or appendages for
walking, eating, or guidance. They are
Fig. 854.—Crustacea. 1. Lobster
(Astacus marinus); 2. Cray-fish generally marine creatures.
(Astacus fluviatilis); 3. Crab
(Cancer pagurus); 4. Shrimp The shell of the crustacea is composed
(Crangon vulgaris); 5. Prawn largely of lime, and of course becomes
(Palæmon serratus).
very hard in time. It is formed from
the skin. The body, like that of an
insect, is composed of head, thorax, and abdomen, divided into
twenty-one segments, of which seven occupy the head, seven the
thorax, and the remainder the abdomen. Twenty segments are
furnished with legs, or feelers, or claws—a pair to a segment. The
lobster or crayfish will give excellent examples of the anatomy of the
macrura or lobster kind of crustacea. The heart is situated in the
back.
The following table given by Professor Nicholson will explain the
“segments and appendages” of the lobster:—

1st Segment, Eyes.

2nd “ Lesser antennæ
3rd “ Greater antennæ.
Head 4th “ Pair of biting jaws.
5th “ First pair of chewing jaws.
6th “ Second pair of chewing jaws.
7th “ First pair of foot jaws.
8th “ Second pair of foot jaws.
9th “ Third pair of foot jaws.
10th “ First pair of legs (claws).
Thorax 11th “ Second pair of legs (small claws).
12th “ Third pair of legs (small claws).
13th “ Fourth pair of legs.
14th “ Fifth pair of legs.
15th “ Ground appendages.
16th “ Swimmerets.
17th “ Swimmerets.
Abdomen 18th “ Swimmerets.
19th “ Swimmerets.
20th “ Large swimmerets.
21st “ No appendages (tail fin).

The tail is, as may be supposed, the great aid to locomotion in the
lobster family, and they can swim backwards with great rapidity by
its assistance. Lobsters shed their claws when alarmed, and are
easily caught by a glittering bait.
The hermit crabs are interesting creatures, but do not possess the
horny coat of the crab or lobster. They are therefore compelled to
inhabit an empty shell, into which they thrust themselves, holding to
the bottom of it by their tail, while a large claw guards the entrance.
When the animal gets too big for his house he moves to another,
leaving the old home for another hermit of the shore.
The crabs have no developed tails, and are therefore called
brachyura—“short-tailed,” and they are walking creatures. There are
king crabs, land crabs, and the common swimming crab. These
animals can shed their shells as other crustaceans, and a curious
fact is they shed them whole. How the claws come out must remain
more or less a mystery. Réaumur investigated the action of the
crayfish, and noticed that as the casting time approached the
crustacea retired to some hiding-place and remained without eating.
The shell becomes gradually loosened, and at last by putting its feet
against a stone and pushing backwards the animal jerks himself
away. It must be a painful operation, for the mill-like teeth of the
stomach are also rejected, and the joints do not give way. After a
while a new shell appears, and is cast in due time as before.
The eyes of the crustacea are situated in front, and are composed
like the insects, or are simple, like spiders. They possess a sense of
hearing evidently. The eggs of the lobster are carried by the female,
and they are termed the “coral” in consequence of their red and
beadlike appearance. Our space will not admit of our saying much
more concerning the interesting crustacea, though the barnacles, so
well known by sight by all dwellers at the sea, and called Cirripedia,
which fix themselves to rocks and ships, deserve notice. The young
are capable of movement, and this fact was first discovered in 1830.
It resembled a mussel, but when kept in sea-water it adhered to the
vessel which retained it. The cirripedia are so called from the cirri or
arms which they possess, and by which they are enabled to entangle
or catch their food, as in a net. They hold themselves by a “foot
stalk.” The goose-mussel, or barnacle, is very common, but must not
be confounded with the limpet.
Dr. Baird gives the following description of them:—“The cirripeds are
articulated animals contained within a hard covering composed of
several pieces and consisting of calcified chitine. The body of the
animal is enclosed in a sac lined with the most delicate membrane of
chitine, which in one group is prolonged into a peduncle and
contains the ova; the body is distinctly articulated and placed with
the back downwards.
Arachnida—Spiders.
There are many families of arachnida
besides the well-known garden and
house spiders. The sea spiders, though
classed with the arachnida, are
sometimes placed amongst the
crustacea. We have the “tick” and the
cheese-mite and the scorpions; all of
which belong to the spider family. But
the true spiders are known by the
joining of the two upper segments, the
thorax and head being united
Fig. 855.—Arachnida. 1. Spider (cephalo-thorax). The pretty and
(Epeira diadema); 2. Scorpion
(Scorpio).
marvellous webs are spun from
abdominal glands through small
apertures. The fluid hardens in its
passage sufficiently to be woven into threads to resist the struggles
of the captured prey. The forms of these webs vary, but some
spiders do not catch their victims in the net; they pounce upon them
cat fashion. The large house spider is well known to all. The garden
spider is seen in the illustration (fig. 855) with the scorpion. The
habits of spiders will be found a very interesting study, and many
volumes have been devoted to them. The water spider is a frequent
inmate of an aquarium, and the bubble of air he takes down with
him to breathe serves as a means of living while he is seeking his
aquatic prey.
We will close our rapid survey of the invertebrate animals with a
glance at the Mollusca, which are divided into six classes (see page
703). The first is the Tunicata, which have no shell or hard covering,
and come under the denomination of molluscoids, and belong to a
lower order. The true mollusca include the Brachiopoda, which have
a pair of shells. They are called “arm-footed” because a long cord or
tendon passes through one of the shells, and fixes the mollusc to the
rock. The Lingula of this class have been discovered in very old
formations such as the Devonian period, and indeed appear to have
been amongst the first created animals.
The Lamellibranchiata include the
oyster, cockle, mussel, etc. They are
well known, and scarcely need
description. The Pteropoda have no
shell. The Gasteropoda are very
numerous, and periwinkles, whelks,
snails, etc., belong to this class. They
progress by a muscular “mantle,”
which is extended and contracted. The Fig. 856.—Mollusca. 1. Nautilus
“horns” have eyes at the extremities. (Argonauta); 2. Clio Borealis; 3.
When they retire into their “houses” Mussel (Mytilus edule).
they can close the door by a kind of lid
called the “operculum.”
The Cephalopods include the nautilus and the cuttle fish, the terrible
squid, or octopus, etc. Wonderful tales are told of the tenacity and
ferocity of the “Poulpes,” and no doubt in long-past ages these
animals attained a gigantic growth. They are very unpleasant
enemies, and the cold, slimy grasp of the long tentacles is apt to
give one the “horrors,” while the terrible head and beak fill one with
dismay. The poulpes are very formidable opponents, and discretion
will certainly be the better part of valour when they appear in our
vicinity.
We must here close our sketch of the Invertebrates, and we regret
that the limits of our volume will not permit us to continue this
interesting subject, nor can we find space, at present, for even the
barest description of the Vertebrate animals.
The sun-fish (Orthagoriscus).
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