Mel Lincoln Journal (undated)

nor alimentary canal. Food is taken in through any part of the body and waste material is given off through any part of the body.

Amoeba have no moving appendages, but slowly roll around till they meet a food particle, they then thrust out pseudopodia and the food particle is held secure. This food particle is worked through the protoplasmic interior of the animal, becoming smaller and smaller till all the nutrient part of it is absorbed, then it is worked out through the cell wall. (Pseudopod-false feet)

Sponges

The sponges we bye(?) are leathery skelatons, of colonies of sponges; not all sponges however have form these leathery colonies, some form a more or less shiny mass. The little sponges swim around at first and then settle down to form a new colony; they are about a quarter of an inch in diameter and from one half to three quarters of an inch long, and appear to be quite porus

In the leathery sponges water is carried into the colony by the incurrent canal, and carried out by the excurrent canal; it is by this means that the sponges in the interior of the colony are fed.

Coelenterata

The Coelenteratas are animals with sac like bodies; among the lowest are the Hydra, which have no alimentary canal except a mere sac in the interior with an opening at the top which serves as a mouth. Around this opening are tentacles, projecting like arms whose purpose it is to seize the food and convey it into the mouth opening. The most interesting thing about this animal is, that it produces young by budding. This process of reproduction is rare among animals.

In this group are also found the jellyfishes, the larger of which are animal colonies rather than individuals; in these colonies of animals there are various types of members, which have there own work to perform. Some contain nettle-cells for protection, others are nutritive polyps, others are egg bearing polyps, others serve to propell the colony etc. In this same group are also the sea-anemones and the corals; in the case of the coral, the linny(?) which we commonly call coral is merrily(?) a deposit from the animal, by means of which all cling together in one colony. In the red-coral used for jewelry the animals live upon the limy stalk; in the brain-coral the animals live within this limy deposit. The coral animal itself is a tiny jelly like animal, with a sac like alimentary canal and tentacles surrounding the mouth.

Vermes (Worms)

The worms are divided into three princip groupes, flatworms, thread worms, and segmented worms. The chief of the flatworms os the tapeworm.

The tapeworm inhabits the small intestines of various animals; and in human beings sometimes reaches to a length of thirty feet; but in other animals it is known to reach still longer. They have no eyes, no ears, nor mouth; they take in food by absorbing it through the walls or skin of its body. It is one of the lowest and most degenerate of any living creature; it depends entirely on its host for life, if the host dies it must die also. Two hooks at one end of the tapeworm; fasten it to the sides of the alimentary canal.

The tapeworm is made up of numerous segments, each of which contain a quantity of eggs. The segments at the lower end, keep falling off and are then capable of moving about and produce a number of new worms. They usually in breaking off pass out and mix with the soil, or lodge in the grass; an animal eating the grass takes the eggs into the stomach, the eggs under the influence of the stomach and intestine juices, hatches into a worm.

Trachina:-

These worms are much more dreaded than the tape worms and are the cause of a very painful disease. They burrow through the walls of the intestines into the muscles.

Angle Worms:- (Fish worms)

Angle worms feed on particles of soil, eating as they tunnel though it. The particle of soil is swallowed and any decayed animal matter on it is digested, the remainder in (is) then thrown back up, and can often be seen around the top of the worm hole. In winter they hibernate below the frost line.

Angle worms or Earth worms reproduce by eggs. The girdle or clitetlum (clitellum), contains the eggs; it moves forward till it covers the segment contain the sperms, the eggs are fertilized; the clitellum moves off over the head; the eggs are then let out and are hatched by the warmth from the sun.

Leeches:-

Leeches live in fresh water ponds and streams. They live on blood, which they suck from cattle and various other animals. Formerly they were used to quite an extent for medical purpose , being applied to a patient to extract quantities of blood.

mollusca (clams, oyster, snails etc.) the shells are produced in layers by secretions from the mantle;a thin membrane which surrounds the body of the animal.

Oysters When oysters are first hatched from the egg they are free to move about, but soon attach themselves to some support and there develop; remaining there the rest of their life. Bivalves-animals with two shells. Univalves-animals with one shell.