The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-04-23
ANIMAL WONDERS,

I'm each grain of sand there are mar
vels, in every drop Of water, world
In that great spectacle called Nature,
every being has its marked place ana
distinct role; and in that grand drama
called life there presidcs a law as har-
monious as that which rules the move
men.s of the stars Each hour removes
by death myriads Of eNistenccs, and
each hour produces lsgi"ns of new
lives. The highest as we'll as the low
est created organism consumes carbon
and water TO support life and its duties,
and it Is not uninteresting TO glance at
the food, the habits and the ways and
means peculiar 20 some Of the inferior
animals From their petTified ejec-
tions we know what fossiled reptiles as
the plesiOsaurus, etc. are, and may
some day he able to discover the fish
and crustaca they hunted down An
imals. when not living hy their own
respectable efforts, are either parasites
or dependents many would seem to
have positive trades, or are connected
with branches Of industry. There are
miners, masOns, carpenters, paper man.
ufacturcrs and Wcayers, laceinakers
even, al working first for themselves,
and nextto propagate their kind. The
miners dig into the earth, form natural
arches and supports, remove tLeusciess
soil 4: such e. the mole, the cLinchil!a
Of Peru. the badger the lion-ant, as
well as cert IN worms and molusEs.
The nason5 build huts and places nc
4. 2 .
rs the. bees and tropical ants. There
are fish th-t construct boats that the
waves never can upset and Ag3ssiz
has drawn attention to 2 fish which
builds It's nest on the floating seaweed
III the middle of the ocean, and deposits
therein its eggs. The wasps Of South
America f;Ibricate q sOTt Of paper or
pasteboard. Spiders are weavers as
well as lacemakcvs one species con-
structs living bell, a palace OF lace.
When the astronomer has need OF the
most delicate thread for his telescope.
he applies To tiny spider. When the
naturalist desires tOtest his microscope.
he selects a certain shell Of = sea insect, I
so small that several millions of them
in the water could not be visible to the
naked eye, and vet no microscope has
vet been made sufficiently powerful 70
reveal the beautiful variagated designs
on the atOmaic shells! Aristotle re-
markell. and be has since been corro-
borated, that 8 variety OF Tl1ver enters
the crocoiile'= mouth -5-Es t-e rem
nants OF food OF tle 1-iz-al's tongue
and from between Its te=ch- Ills iiv-
ing tootLpick IS not mobile. The
Mexican owl. while enjoying Fiesta.
puts itself under the guard Of kind Of
rat. that gives the alarm on the ap-
pearancc OF danger Parasites are ev-
erywhcre, depend on no condition of
the body. and are as abundant in per
sons of the most robust as the most
debilitated health. They are at home
in the muscles, in the heart, in the
ventriclcs Of the brain, in the ball Of
the eye. They are generally in the
form of leaf OF a ribbon and are not
necessarily, as was once supposed,
confined TO a special animal. The par
asites Of fish have been detected living
in the lhtestines of birds and there are
some that for the purpose of develop
ment, must pass into the economy Of
a second animal