Probably myriads of different types of this worm-like organisation were
developed, but such animals leave no trace in the rocks, and we can
only follow the development by broad analogies. The lowest flat-worms
of to-day may represent some of these early types, and as we ascend
the scale of what is loosely called "worm" organisation, we get some
instructive suggestions of the way in which the various organs develop.
Division of labour continues among the colony of cells which make up
the body, and we get distinct nerve-cells, muscle-cells, and digestive
cells. The nerve-cells are most useful at the head of an organism which
moves through the water, just as the look-out peers from the head of the
ship, and there they develop most thickly. By a fresh division of labour
some of these cells become especially sensitive to light, some to the
chemical qualities of matter, some to movements of the water; we have
the beginning of the eyes, the nose, and the ears, as simple little
depressions in the skin of the head, lined with these sensitive cells. A
muscular gullet arises to protect the digestive tube; a simple drainage
channel for waste matter forms under the skin; other channels permit
the passage of the fluid food, become (in the higher worms) muscular
blood-vessels, and begin to contract--somewhat erratically at first--and
drive the blood through the system.
Here, perhaps, are millions of years of development compressed into
a paragraph. But the purpose of this work is chiefly to describe the
material record of the advance of life in the earth's strata, and show
how it is related to great geological changes. We must therefore abstain
from endeavouring to trace the genealogy of the innumerable types of
animals which were, until recently, collected in zoology under the
heading "Worms." It is more pertinent to inquire how the higher classes
of animals, which we found in the Cambrian seas, can have arisen from
this primitive worm-like population.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account