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6. Specific gravity is the weight of a substance as compared with an
equal bulk of something taken as a standard; water having been
selected as the standard for solids and liquids, and air for gases.
Gravity furnishes more units of measure of various kinds—weight,
work, heat, tenacity—than any other force of nature.
It will be remembered that Physics is that branch of science that
considers the general properties of matter, and the character of
those forces which affect matter without destroying its molecule. It
includes many subdivisions. In addition to those already mentioned,
we find Molecular Attraction, or the operation of forces that act at
insensible distances; Hydrostatics, which treats of liquids at rest;
Hydraulics, of liquids in motion; Pneumatics, of gases; Machines, of
means for applying force; Acoustics, of the laws of sound; Heat;
Light; and Electricity.
As many physical properties have been mentioned in the articles
on Air, Water, and Fire, they will not now be considered. Our
discussion here applies more especially to those substances which,
at ordinary temperatures, are solid.
Ex.—A body buoyed up in water displaces its own
weight of the liquid. The glass is nicely graded, and as
the water rises in the vessel, the registration at once
7. indicates the amount of water displaced. This proves
the truth of the “Law of Archimedes”[9], ascertained
while he was investigating the problem of the golden
crown.
The most characteristic properties of solid bodies are the
following: Hardness, tenacity, malleability, ductility, and crystalline
form. Hardness is the resistance which a body offers to being
scratched. Tenacity is the resistance offered by a body to a
separation of its parts. Malleability is that property of a body which
makes it capable of being rolled into sheets. Ductility is capacity for
being drawn into wire, and crystalline form is the property which
causes it to assume regular shapes.
As will be observed, these peculiarities are closely dependent
upon cohesion and adhesion. By the former we understand the force
which holds together the similar molecules of a substance; and by
the latter, the force which unites the surfaces of different materials.
Familiar as we are with these two agencies, their nature is not yet
understood. We can easily discover that they are very dependent
upon heat, by the application of which most solids pass from the
stable form, to one in which, instead of cohesive force between the
molecules, there is repulsion; as in the conversion of ice into water,
and then into steam.
This movement of molecules is also dependent upon pressure.
The most interesting illustration of this is seen in the action of
glaciers. It has been ascertained that the melting temperature of ice
lowers one two hundred and fiftieth of a degree for every fifteen
pounds of pressure to the square inch.
The immense superincumbent mass of ice must, in many places,
set free so much latent heat that a portion of the ice melts, so that
here and there cells and liquid veins would be opened in the interior
of the glacier. But the particles which separate these thin layers of
water would almost immediately close up. This is the brilliant
demonstration of Prof. Tyndall, who has given the operation the
name of “regelation.” It has been thus described: “This phenomenon
8. takes place at every point in the thickness of the glacier. Particles of
ice approach one another, and unite across little veins of water,
which permeate it in every direction; fresh liquid films are formed
under the pressure from above; fresh unions take place between the
divided morsels of ice; and, by this continual process of change, the
air contained in the mass of that which once was snow, is gradually
expelled. Thus it happens that the whole mass ultimately assumes
an almost perfect transparency and a beautiful azure color.”
CRYSTALLIZATION.
One of the most beautiful illustrations of cohesive attraction is
seen in crystallization. In every instance in which substances pass
into the form of a solid, they tend to assume regular shapes called
crystals. Each material has its own characteristic form, so that a
crystal is a type of a species in the mineral world, even as a plant or
an animal is in the organic kingdom. A crystal is a substance
bounded by plain surfaces and symmetrically arranged about
imaginary lines called axes. The final form depends upon certain
smaller forms in its interior structure. They possess lines of division,
often in three directions, called “cleavage.”
While there are millions of crystals, they have all been classified
under six systems, as follows: 1. Monometric, where the three axes
are equal. 2. Dimetric, having one axis unequal to the other two,
which are equal to each other. 3. Trimetric, having no two axes
equal. 4. Monoclinic, having one axis inclined. 5. Triclinic, in which all
the three intersections are oblique and the axes unequal. 6.
Hexagonal, which has the form of a regular hexagonal prism.
9. Ex.—Showing change of volume. The upper part of
the figure represents a substance expanded. There
are no more molecules here than below, but they are
pushed further apart. This is supposed to be the way
in which all bodies are enlarged by heat.
While contemplating the thousand beautiful forms in which
molecules are arranged into crystals, whereby many economic
purposes are served, as well as taste manifested, one can not resist
the conviction that such displays of wisdom, benevolence and love of
beauty can alone emanate from the eternal Mind.
Another wide-spread effect of cohesion is seen in
PETRIFACTIONS.
Everywhere in fossiliferous rock may be found organic remains in
which the material of which they were originally composed has been
replaced by some mineral substance. Some have supposed that
these plants and animals have actually been converted into stone by
a change of their elements. This is of course absurd. Carbon can
never be anything but carbon, nor indeed, can any element ever
become anything other than itself. This dream of the alchemist was
10. long since dissipated. No, strange as it may seem, the molecules of
these fossilized organisms must actually pass out, and silica, lime,
clay, or some such matter pass in and take their places. Beautiful
specimens of petrified wood, found especially on the Pacific coast,
are often hard as glass. One very handsome variety, called
“opalized” wood, clearly indicates that petrifaction was either
accompanied or followed by crystallization.
Myriads of shells, bones and plants scattered through the earth’s
strata have been transformed in the manner indicated. Although
petrifaction is usually a long process, there is reason to believe that
it sometimes takes place rapidly. This operation must not be
confounded with incrustation, which is often mistaken for it, and
takes place where substances, like bending twigs, have deposited
upon them layer after layer of lime, salt, sulphur or ice.
The molecules of solids, even, are in intense and ceaseless
motion. As has been said, “A continuous and restless, nay, a very
complicated activity is the order of Nature throughout all her
individuals, whether these be living beings or inanimate particles of
matter. Existence is, in truth, one continued fight, and a great battle
is always and everywhere raging, although the field in which it is
fought is often completely shrouded from our view.”
11. Ex.—A simple illustration of the
convenience of machinery in
applying force and changing
direction.
The motto of the brave Huguenots in the time of Louis XIV. was
“Ever burning, but never consumed.”
Nature’s motto, both for matter and energy is, “Ever changing,
but never destroyed.” Let us next notice some instances of the
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY.
Energy is the power to do work or overcome resistance. It is of
two kinds—potential and kinetic. The former is the energy or force
due to position, but it is latent or inactive. The latter is the energy of
a body which is in motion. A stone resting on a mountain top, the
water in a quiet mill pond, a coiled spring, are all examples of
potential energy.
12. The stone, crushing through the cottage of a peasant, the water
turning a factory wheel, the spring turning the wheels of a clock, are
examples of actual or kinetic energy.
Ex.—Lay a magnet down on iron filings.
They will gather in greatest abundance
about the poles, and diminish toward
the center, where there are none; thus
showing the nature of polarity.
Energy often disappears to reappear under a different name. If
we lift our hand to strike the palm of another, our vital energy
becomes motion, and that in turn is changed into heat.
In the Bell telephone the sound-waves in the mouthpiece are
converted into electric vibrations in the wire, and these, in turn,
induce sound-waves in the receiving instrument at the other end of
the line.
In dynamo-electric machines we have a chain of transmutations
of force—chemical affinity in the fire-box, expansion in the boiler,
becoming in turn, motion, magnetism, electric currents, until it
appears as resplendent light and intense heat between the carbon
points.
Potential energy slumbers in the raindrop, and, anon, as kinetic
energy, flashes in the lightning.
In short, the sum of all the energies of nature is a constant
quantity, although it manifests itself in a thousand different ways.
The foregoing reflections indicate that the researches of modern
science all point to a grand unity in God’s universe. Let us conclude
by briefly referring to some instances of plan or design in the
GROUPING OF LAWS.
13. The most characteristic feature of all science is that it arranges
facts in an orderly manner, under principles or laws.
Nature seems to delight, likewise, in doing a variety of things
under one general principle. Note a curious trinity in her method: We
have three great departments of nature—animal, vegetable and
mineral; three parts to our being—physical, mental and moral; three
divisions of the mind—intellect, sensibilities and will; three parts to
all plants—root, stem and foliage; there is earth, sea and sky; three
great classes in all mechanism—lever, cord, and inclined plane—and
many others that might be mentioned.
Observe another group of laws in physics: Variation, in
accordance with an exact proportion.
Gravity varies inversely as the square of the distance; heat varies
inversely as the square of the distance; light varies inversely as the
square of the distance, and sound varies also in exactly the same
ratio.
Who can contemplate this exact mathematical arrangement,
extending through many departments of matter, without concluding
that “Nature is but the name for an effect whose cause is God?”
14. THE EYES BUSY ON THINGS ABOUT
US.
BY JOSEPHINE POLLARD.
A distinguished writer has said: “The eyes are of no use without
the observing power,” and surely no faculty we possess is capable of
so much cultivation as the sight. The facility with which the eye can
express the emotions of the soul has been the theme of poets of all
ages, who have not hesitated to confess which style of eyes pleased
them the most. Says one:
“I everywhere am thinking
Of thy blue eye’s sweet smile;
A sea of thoughts is spreading
Over my heart the while.”
And others:
“His eyes are songs without words.”
“A suppressed resolve will betray itself in the eyes.”
“An eye can threaten like a loaded and leveled gun, or can insult
like hissing or kicking; or, in its altered mood, by beams of kindness,
it can make the heart dance with joy.”
“Eyes are bold as lions, roving, running, leaping, here and there,
far and near. They speak all languages; wait for no introduction; ask
no leave of age or rank; respect neither poverty nor riches, neither
learning nor power, nor virtue nor sex, but intrude, and come again,
15. and go through and through you in a moment of time. What
inundation of life and thought is discharged from one soul into
another through them!”
There are
“True eyes
Too pure and too honest in aught to disguise
The sweet soul shining through them;”
and “eyes that have murder in them, whose flash is the forerunner
of thunder.” One has “an eye like Mars, to threaten and command,”
and other eyes are “the homes of silent prayer.”
But the variety in color and expression of the eye is as nothing
compared to difference in the power of observation. Those ancient
companions, “Eyes and No-Eyes,” the story of whose wanderings
conveyed a valuable lesson to young and old, were but prototypes of
people who go through the world to-day, some of whom see
everything, while others see nothing at all. Poets, who could write so
beautifully of the eyes, must first have trained their own vision to
perceive the beauty or baseness they described, and it is the
exercise of this far-seeing, penetrating, analytical power that is the
prerogative of genius.
The specialist devotes himself to the closest examination of
details. The naturalist does not let the smallest insect escape him,
and his trained eye perceives the least peculiarity that denotes the
varieties of species.
A person with ordinary eyesight takes up a rose, a lily, or a daisy,
and only admires color, shape, or perfume; while the botanist
examines the flower in every part, and tells who was its grandfather
or grandmother, and feels as tender an interest in it as if it were a
human being.
16. The artist has to train his eye to look for beauty where apparently
none appears. He must have an eye for color, for form, for
expression, for whatever line he proposes to follow, and he will
never rise to eminence if he is satisfied with a hasty, careless,
superficial glance.
Turner[1] was one day painting a landscape with the richness of
color that was his specialty, when an English girl who was painting
near him left her easel and came to look over his shoulder. “Why, Mr.
Turner,” said she, “I don’t see any of those colors in the grass or the
trees.”
“No?” said Turner. “Don’t you wish you could?”
It is astonishing that with so much of beauty as there is around
us, so many people are found who travel through the world without
having used their eyes to any profit whatever. The training needs to
be begun in early life; children should be taught how to observe;
and as some are duller than others they need to have things pointed
out to them, until the habit of examining closely becomes fixed, and
like second nature.
What a wonderful field for study there is in the sky above us!
Look at the clouds; here, in great, heavy masses; there assuming
strange shapes, and taking on an infinite variety of coloring. See the
setting sun; never twice alike; a marvel of beauty and grandeur; a
feast for even young eyes.
Let us go down by the seashore and watch the great waves come
in. The sea is broad, and grand, and deep; but is that all? Note how
it reflects the color of the sky; mark the waves that rise afar, and
show their white manes like wild horses of the sea, and dash on the
shore like a charge of cavalry. How they come galloping, galloping
on! Watch for the ninth wave, and look out for yourself! Observe the
height that each succeeding wave obtains when the tide is on the
rise, and how the character of the beach is changed after a severe
storm of wind or rain. There is a volume of interesting study in a
17. handful of sand, a tuft of moss, a small patch of grass, or a bunch of
seaweed.
Ruskin,[2] that exceedingly close observer of art and nature, and
eminently sharp critic of men and things, gives us some excellent
instruction in the art of looking below the surface. “There is no
bush,” he says, “on the face of the globe exactly like another bush;
there are no two trees in the forest whose boughs bend into the
same network, nor two leaves on the same tree which could not be
told one from the other, nor two waves in the sea exactly alike. And
out of this mass of various yet agreeing beauty, it is by long
attention only that the conception of the constant character—the
ideal form—hinted at by all, yet assumed by none, is fixed upon the
imagination for its standard of truth. Ask the connoisseur, who has
scampered over all Europe, the shape of the leaf of an elm, and the
chances are ninety to one that he can not tell you, and yet he will be
voluble of criticism on every painted landscape from Dresden to
Madrid, and pretend to tell you whether they are like nature or not.
A man may recognize the portrait of his friend, though he can not, if
you ask him apart, tell you the shape of his nose or the height of his
forehead.
“The color of plants is constantly changing with the season, and
that of everything with the quality of light falling upon it; but the
nature and essence of the thing are independent of these changes.
An oak is an oak, whether green with spring or red with winter; a
dahlia is a dahlia, whether it be red or crimson; but let one curve of
the petals, one groove of the stamens be wanting, and the flower
ceases to be the same. Two trees of the same kind, at the same
season, and of the same age, are of absolutely the same color; but
they are not of the same form, nor anything like it.”
How few of us observe these things! and how much we miss daily
and hourly through lack of this special training of the eye!
A geologist was with a party of friends in the Yosemite valley and
called their attention to the play of the light from a campfire on the
18. underside of the leaves of the trees above them. It was a beautiful
revelation, and all wondered that they had never noticed it before.
If you are living in the country you should educate the eye to
study nature in all its phases, and every day add something to your
store of knowledge. Observe the habits of birds, and their haunts;
watch the ants and other insects; familiarize yourself with plant life
so that you can tell a weed from a flower, and a medicinal herb from
a poisonous plant.
If a dweller in the town, observe varieties of architecture, the
materials used in the manufacture of houses; compare modern with
ancient styles; and lose no opportunity of obtaining information in
regard to all that is new and strange. Wherever you are, be less
intent on reading novels than in observing wherein you can improve
your surroundings. The slattern, with her nose in a book, is blind to
the cobwebs that hang from the ceiling, and the rags and dirt visible
to every one else. She is cultivating the eyes of her imagination, and
reveling in scenes of fairy-like splendor, and has no eyes for the
common things of every day life. Her powers of observation are
exceedingly limited, and her home is no better for her being in it.
She is content to lead an idle life, and does not see in how many
ways she might amuse and improve herself.
The trained housekeeper has made good use of her eyes, and by
noticing trifles has brought her department to a high state of
perfection. It is not enough that she has a natural taste for it; she
must be continually looking after things with the searching gaze of
an inspector-general. Her practised eyes see when the table-cloth is
awry, or the dishes not in their places; when the furniture needs
renovating, or the dust has accumulated, and she feels that her
reputation is at stake if the defects are not speedily remedied.
An expert in precious stones can tell almost at a glance the value
and weight of each gem, and is not easily deceived by counterfeits.
19. The physician can so train his eye that he has merely to look
closely at the patient to determine the nature of his disease; while
the microscopist, the geologist, and the astronomer acquire such
accuracy from their close and long continued investigations that they
can detect the least change in the appearance of the heavens above
or the earth beneath.
But the astronomer may have his eyes so fixed on the stars that
he can not observe what is going on below; the geologist may be
able to analyze a stone and tell to which stratum it belongs, and yet
take no interest in anything that is above ground; and the devoted
student of the microscope may be so entranced by the wonders
continually opening before him, that he is utterly oblivious to all else
surrounding him. Without this habit of observation, the world would
have had no Galileo, no Humboldt, no Newton, no Agassiz, no Hugh
Miller, no Edison,[3] and no progress. But all are not gifted in the
same way; and often the sphere we move in or the place in which
we are born, determines and decides our calling, and controls our
habits to a very great extent. It is natural that one accustomed to an
open country should have his eyes attracted toward the heavens,
which are constantly revealing new wonders; and that one brought
up among the rocks should take to hammering them to bits, boy-
like, to see of what they are made, or how they look inside.
The differences between men consist in a great measure in the
intelligence of their observation. The Russian proverb says: “He goes
through the forest and sees no firewood.” “The wise man’s eyes are
in his head,” says Solomon, “but the fool walketh in darkness.” It is
the mind that sees as well as the eye. Where unthinking gazers
observe nothing, men of intelligent vision penetrate into the very
fiber of the phenomena presented to them, attentively noting
differences, making comparisons and recognizing their underlying
idea. Many before Galileo had seen a suspended weight swing
before their eyes with a measured beat; but he was the first to
detect the value of the fact.
20. One of the vergers[4] in the cathedral at Pisa,[5] after replenishing
with oil a lamp which hung from the roof, left it swinging to and fro;
and Galileo, then a youth of only eighteen, noting it attentively,
conceived the idea of applying to it the measurement of time. Fifty
years of study and labor elapsed before he completed the invention
of his pendulum—the importance of which, in the measurement of
time and in astronomical calculations, can scarcely be overrated. In
like manner, Galileo having heard that a Dutch spectacle-maker had
presented to Count Maurice, of Nassau,[6] an instrument by means
of which distant objects appeared nearer to the beholder, began to
inquire into the cause of such a phenomena, and this led to the
invention of the telescope, and proved the beginning of the modern
science of astronomy.
While Captain (afterward Sir Samuel) Brown[7] was occupied in
studying the construction of bridges, with the view of contriving one
of a cheap description to be thrown across the Tweed, near which
he lived, he was walking in his garden one morning when he saw a
tiny spider’s web suspended across his path. The idea immediately
occurred to him that a bridge of iron ropes or chains might be
constructed in like manner, and the result was the invention of his
suspension bridge.
So James Watt,[8] when consulted about the mode of carrying
water by pipes under the Clyde, along the unequal bed of the river,
turned his attention one day to the shell of a lobster presented at
table, and from that model he invented an iron tube, which, when
laid down, was found effectually to answer the purpose.
Sir Isambard Brunel[9] took his first lessons in forming the
Thames tunnel from the tiny ship-worm; he saw how the little
creature perforated the wood with its well-armed head, first in one
direction and then in another, till the archway was complete, and
then daubed over the roof and sides with a kind of varnish, and by
copying this work on a large scale, Brunel was at length enabled to
construct his shield and accomplish his great engineering work.
21. It is the intelligent eye of the careful observer which gives these
apparently trivial phenomena their value. So trifling a matter as the
sight of seaweed floating past his ship enabled Columbus to quell
the mutiny which arose amongst his sailors at not discovering land,
and to assure them that the eagerly sought New World was not far
off.
It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of
success in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit in life.
When Franklin made his discovery of the identity of lightning and
electricity, it was sneered at, and people asked, “Of what use is it?”
To which his reply was, “What is the use of a child? It may become a
man!” The great Cuvier[10] was a singularly accurate, careful, and
industrious observer. When a boy he was attracted to the subject of
natural history by the sight of a volume of Buffon,[11] which
accidentally fell in his way. He at once proceeded to copy the
drawings, and to color them after the descriptions given in the text.
At eighteen he was offered the situation of tutor in a family residing
near Fécamp, in Normandy. Living close to the seashore, he was
brought face to face with the wonders of marine life. Strolling along
the sands one day he observed a stranded cuttle-fish.[12] He was
attracted by the curious object, took it home to dissect, and thus
began the study of the molluscæ, in the pursuit of which he
achieved so distinguished a reputation. He had no books to refer to
excepting only the great book of nature which lay open before him.
The study of the novel and interesting objects which it daily
presented to his eyes made a much deeper impression on his mind
than any written or engraved descriptions could possibly have done.
Three years thus passed, during which he compared the living
specimens of marine animals with the fossil remains found in the
neighborhood, dissected the specimens of marine life that came
under his notice, and, by careful observation, prepared the way for a
complete reform in the classification of the animal kingdom.
The life of Hugh Miller furnishes another illustration of the
advantage of making a good use of the eyes. While Hugh was but a
22. child, his father, who was a sailor, was drowned at sea, and he was
brought up by his widowed mother. He had a school training after a
sort, but his best teachers were the boys with whom he played, the
men among whom he worked, the friends and relatives with whom
he lived. With a big hammer which had belonged to his great-
grandfather, an old buccaneer, the boy went about chipping the
stones and accumulating specimens of mica, porphyry, garnet, and
other stones. Sometimes he had a day in the woods, and there, too,
his attention was excited by the peculiar geological curiosities which
came in his way. While searching among the rocks on the beach, he
was sometimes asked, in irony, by the farm-servants who came to
load their carts with seaweed, whether he was getting “siller in the
stanes,” but was so unlucky as never to be able to answer in the
affirmative. When of a suitable age he was apprenticed to the trade
of his choice—that of a working stone cutter—and he began his
laboring career in a quarry looking out upon the Cromarty Firth.[13]
This quarry proved one of his best schools. The remarkable
geological formations which it displayed awakened his curiosity. The
bar of deep-red stone beneath, and the bar of pale-red clay above,
were noted by the young quarryman, who even in such unpromising
subjects found matter for observation and reflection. Where other
men saw nothing, he detected analogies, differences, and
peculiarities which set him thinking. He simply kept his eyes and his
mind open; was sober, diligent and persevering, and this was the
secret of his intellectual growth.
His curiosity was excited and kept alive by the curious organic
remains, principally of old and extinct species of fishes, ferns, and
ammonites,[14] which were revealed along the coast by the
washings of the waves, or were exposed by the stroke of his
mason’s hammer. He never lost sight of the subject, but went on
accumulating observations and comparing formations, until at
length, many years afterward, when no longer a working mason, he
gave to the world his highly interesting work on the “Old Red
Sandstone,” which at once established his reputation as a scientific
23. geologist. But this work was the fruit of long years of patient
observation and research.
We learn from these interesting records that, no matter how or
where one is situated, he will always find opportunities for
observation if he will only keep his eyes open and his mind open at
the same time. It is the brain behind the eyes that makes seeing of
any value. Every gift may be perfected by self-culture, and by
keeping our eyes busy on things about us, by observing and
comparing, we color our future lives, increase our intelligence, and
are never at a loss for new worlds to conquer.
What the world needs to-day is less outlook and more insight;
more careful observance of what is needed in our homes by those
we love and those who love us. We need eyes to see our own duty
in every department of life, to note our own faults, and to observe
the beauty rather than the blemishes of others; to see wherein we
can be of service, and in what way we may enlarge our
opportunities, and in order to acquire any skill or proficiency we
need continually to pray, “Lord, open thou the eyes of our
understanding.”
24. EASY LESSONS IN ANIMAL
BIOLOGY.
CHAPTER II.
SUB-KINGDOM VII.—ARTICULATA.
This subdivision of the animal kingdom, containing articulated or
jointed animals and insects, exceeds every other in the number and
diversity of the species. The articulation may belong to their bodies,
limbs, or outer covering. The tough shells of some, formed by a
secretion of a hard, horn-like substance, have numerous segments,
or rings, either closely joined and firmly cemented, as those about
the head and thorax, or loosely cemented, as those which
encompass the abdomen. The skeleton of some is external, and
consists of these articulated segments, which serve the double
purpose of framework and covering. The muscles, or elastic
cartilages holding them together, are striated, or furnished with
small grooves in the sheath or shell. If the animal has limbs, they
also are jointed, and hollow.
Class I.—Crustacea, so called from the crust in which their soft
bodies are encased. They are a very large family, mostly of air
breathing animals, with enough in common to indicate their
relationship, yet distinguished by a great diversity in their forms and
modes of life. Some are very small, and are as numberless as the
sands on the shore. Others, when their members are all extended,
can stretch themselves over a circle several feet in diameter.
The chief orders of the Crustacea are the Barnacles,[1] the Water-
flea, the Fourteen-footed Crustacea,[2] and Ten-footed Crustacea.[3]
25. The Crayfish may be taken as a type of the structure of the
Crustacea. The body has two principal sections. The anterior, called
the cephalo-thorax,[4] extends to the first distinctly marked ring, and
the shield, thus far, is comparatively smooth, the segments fitting so
closely as to be practically one. In front and between the two pairs
of antennæ, or feelers, is a small pointed process in the place of the
nasal organ, but serving some other purpose. At the base of each of
the smaller antennæ, on the under side, is a minute sac, the mouth
of which is protected with delicate hairs. These are the organs of
hearing, and near them, on the outer side, are the organs of smell.
The sense of touch is in the fine cilia that fringe the mouth and the
antennæ.
There are numerous appendages. Of the five pairs of legs, the
first two are provided with claws, or nippers. The fore-legs, or arms,
have, in the place of hands, strong pincers, similar, but not entirely
alike; the one with sharp edge and smaller teeth is used for cutting,
the other for mashing, or grinding the food. The other legs
terminate in feathery points, and are used, in part, for locomotion,
and by the female for carrying her eggs. The posterior pair, called
swimmerets, together with the expansion of the last segment of the
abdomen into a kind of caudal fin, are the main dependence for
swimming. The segments are so loosely jointed that the “tail” can be
moved freely, and by flapping it the animal moves easily. As there is
no neck, in order to see objects in different directions, the eyes are
not sunk in the head, but placed at the extremities of little muscular
processes, or “eye stalks,” which are movable, making even hind-
sight practicable when backward motion is desired.
26. THE CRAYFISH.
The crayfish breathes through branchiæ, or gills, situated at the
sides of the thorax, protected by the carapace,[5] or horny covering,
under the edges of which the water and air reach the gills. Here a
very curious appendage is attached, called the “gill bailer,” which
moves back and forth, creating a current of water through the gills
that finds its way out through an opening near the mouth.
Under the welded sheath or cover of the head are the mandibles,
or jaws, between which the mouth opens; a short passage, leading
to the capacious, gizzard-like stomach, is provided with grinders, to
still further masticate the food before it passes into the intestine.
The eggs are small, and attached by glutinous threads to the
appendages until they are hatched; the young are also attached,
until sufficiently developed to live apart from the parent.
This class of animals undergoes periodic changes which are
attended with some degree of violence. The crustaceous covering is
27. a kind of epidermis,[6] having beneath it the true skin. It is formed
by some process of exudation from the growing body. This sheath,
while soft, expands slowly, but when hardened, the growth is
retarded, and in time it is found too small for convenience, so it is
cast off, and a new and larger one supplied to take its place. In this
process of moulting the animal attempts to put off its outer covering,
not in fragments or parts, but in one piece, though many delicate
attachments have to be sundered, membranes rent, and sometimes
even a limb torn off in the resolute effort to undress. This can not be
done at all times, or at any time, without special preparation. A
period of apparent sickness precedes, and the muscular parts of the
limbs become shrunken, so that they are more easily extricated. The
loss of a leg is not so serious a matter, since the damage is repaired
by a new one with the same form and articulations. As the work of
repairing the limb begins at the joint nearest the body, if the
member is torn between that and the extremity, the partially
mutilated animal has the strange power of throwing off all that
remains beyond that joint.
Of other crustaceans, the common lobster is in most respects so
similar to that shown in the first diagram as to need no further
description than to say the cephalo-thorax is comparatively smaller,
while the forearms and claws are larger.
There are also marine crayfish that are very numerous about the
coral reefs off the Florida coasts, and have substantially the same
characteristics, only their claws are considerably less, and their
ciliated antennæ larger.
Crabs are closely allied to lobsters, and belong to the highest
orders of the crustaceans. The lengthened, loose-jointed abdomen
of the typical crayfish is wanting, and there is a general
concentration of the parts; all the most important viscera being
included in the thorax, and covered by a single, closely compacted
shield. There are many species of crabs, differing in other respects
as well as in the form of the shell or back, which in some is nearly
orbicular, in others it is oblong, longer than it is broad, or broader
28. than it is long. They differ in the smoothness of their shells, and in
the length of their legs, which they stretch out from under their
horny covering. Their first pair of limbs is not fitted for locomotion,
but shows a vigorous development of the strong claws and pincers
of other decapod crustaceans. Though found in almost all seas, they
are poor swimmers, their legs being formed for walking or creeping,
rather than as oars to propel them through the water. They are
found in pools, among seaweeds, and particularly in marshy places
left by the receding tides. Most species live in water, some in moist
places on land. Many kinds of crabs are used for food. Its black
claws and broad carapace readily distinguish it from other species.
From activity in seizing, tearing, and devouring their food, and from
their pugnacity, crabs are interesting inmates of the aquarium. They
also moult, or cast off their shells; not at regular seasons, but when
the demand for more room requires it.
Class II.—Arachnida are closely related to the crustaceans,
having, like them, the body divided into two sections—cephalo-
thorax and abdomen. To the former are attached four pairs of legs,
but the abdomen has no appendages for locomotion. There are
about 5,000 species, produced from eggs, and undergoing no
metamorphoses in their development.
The lowest forms, under the common name of Acarina,[7] have
the anterior part in a mass with the abdomen, and short legs near
the head, terminated in little claws suitable for taking hold of hairs
and feathers. They are mostly parasitic, and all birds and animals,
even parasites themselves, are liable to suffer from acarina peculiar
to their own species. Pedipalpi[8] (scorpions), and Araneina[9]
(spiders), though much larger, belong to this class. The body of the
scorpion is divided into segments, though the anterior of the
abdominal part seems but a continuance of the thorax, and is as
large. It, however, soon tapers off into a long, jointed, tail-like
process, in the terminus of which is its hooked sting, perforated and
connected with the poison sac. In striking, the tail is raised over the
back and struck down. Its other weapons are the crab-like claws on
29. the strong forearms. The Araneina, at least some classes of them,
are well known. The soft, unjointed body is separated from the
thorax by a narrow constriction or tie, and at the posterior end there
are little appendages called spinnerets, through which the silken
lines issue that form the web. The hinder feet are skillfully employed
in arranging the gossamer threads after patterns that are
instinctively followed.
Class III.—Myriapoda, Centipedes,[10] have the thorax merged
with the elongated abdomen, while the head is free. They resemble
worms in form, but the skin is stiffened with chitine,[11] and the
many legs are articulated. There are two orders: the Chilognatha,[12]
which move slowly, and are harmless, the “thousand legged worm”
is a representative, and the Chilopoda,[13] more active, and having a
flattened body of about twenty segments, each carrying one pair of
legs. Their mouths are armed with formidable fangs connected with
poison glands. They are carnivorous, and may be distinguished by
their general appearance, quicker movements, and by having longer
antennæ than the innocent vegetarians.
30. THE HEAD OF AN INSECT.
Ex.—A, gula, or throat; b, ligula,
or tongue; c mandibles; d,
maxillæ, or inner jaws.
Class IV.—Insecta. The distinguishing characteristics of this class
are that the head, thorax, and abdomen are distinct; that they
possess three pairs of jointed legs, one pair of antennæ, and,
generally, two pairs of wings. The skin is hardened, and to it the
muscles are attached. The eyes are usually composed of a number
of facets, from fifty in the ant to many thousands in the winged
insects. As the eyes are not movable, these facets enable them to
see in many directions.
The several parts of the head and its appendages are shown in
our illustration. The sensitive palpi, or feelers, with the delicate hair-
brush tips at the ends, may also be noticed. The mouth differs in
different species, and is fitted for biting and masticating, or
puncturing and sucking. The adaptation seems perfect. Of all
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