Mary Lua Adelia Davis Treat

“ When the animal is resting, or is in any way disturbed, she settles down in the lower part of the tube; but, when all is quiet and she is in good working condition, with no nursery of young ones around her, she is pretty sure to reward us with the sight of her four beautiful wheels, which she sets in rapid motion, thus forming a swift current which brings the food and the material for the brick close to her head; and she has the power of selection, for she often rejects particles brought to her mouth. The apparatus for moulding the brick is within the body. ”

“ Sometimes an animal is betrayed into the opening too large for the Floscule to manage, and it is very amusing to watch its efforts to escape, and to see the Floscule try to devour it; she makes many attempts to take it into her mouth, but, at last, seeming to become discouraged, she opens wide the door and gives it permission to leave. ”

“ No bird, no other animal, not even man himself, can excel the beautiful workmanship of this tiny creature, scarcely visible to the naked eye, yet, under the microscope, assuming vast proportions. She not only builds her house, but manufactures her own brick, and lays them up one by one with no workmen to assist. The house is usually attached to some water-plant ”

“ If they have any police regulations in this fairy-world, he must be a great trial to the authorities, eluding their grasp, and bowing to them from some other quarter, entirely transformed. But, when there is nothing to interfere with his locomotion, he looks very much like a leaf, as is seen in our figure. He is covered all over with rather short, stiff hairs, or cilia, that look like porcupine-quills—perhaps they are his weapons of defense. He is not carnivorous, but lives on a vegetable diet, and is so transparent that we can always tell what he has taken for his dinner. ”

“ Although this animal cannot be said to build a house, yet, in one sense, it is an architect, for a tree is built up in some way, and the little bell-shaped creatures hang on the ends of the branches, where they look more like flowers than animals. ”

“ As nothing is made in vain, these filaments must in some way be of use to the animal. She cannot go in search of food, for she is firmly anchored to one spot, and has no wheels to set in motion to form a current to bring food to her: so we will carefully watch and see how she captures her prey. ”

“ When the eggs hatch, the little animals leave their mother's house and go floating off, living a free-and-easy sort of life; but, after a few days of this wandering, gypsy kind of existence, they seem to become impressed with the graver duties of life, and settle down and set up house-keeping on their own account. ”