Animal parasites and messmates / by P.J. van Beneden.

  • Beneden, M. van (Pierre Joseph), 1809-1894.
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Animal parasites and messmates / by P.J. van Beneden. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    INTEODÜCTION. “ The édifice of the world is onlj sustainod bj the impulses of Imnger and love.”—Schiller. In that great drama which we call Nature, eacli animal plays its ©spécial part, and He wlio lias adjusted and regulated everything in its due order and proportion, watclies with as mucli care over tlie préservation of the most répulsive insect, as over tlie young brood of the most brilliant bird. Each, as it cornes into the world, thoroughly knows its part, and plays it the hetter because it is more free to obey the dictâtes of its instinct. There présidés over tins great drama of life a law as harmonious as that which régulâtes the move- ments of the heavenly hodies j and if death carries olï from the scene every hour myriads of living créatures, each hour life causes new légions to rise up in order to replace them. It is a whirlwind of heing, a chain without end. This is now more fully known • whatever the animal may be, whether that which occupies the highest or the lowest place in the scale of création, it consumes water and carbon, and albumen sustains its vital force. h